2026-09-28 - Municipal Services and Properties Committee

00:23Good morning. Um, I'm calling the mun.

00:26Today is Monday, September 28th, 2026,

00:28and I'm calling Municipal Service and

00:30Properties Committee to order. Uh, madam

00:32clerk, can you please call the role

00:35>> here?

00:43>> Okay. All right. First, uh, we're going

00:45to have up, uh, um, Leah Part, uh, to do

00:48a presentation for the committee. Come

00:50on up.

01:13All right. Good morning, uh, director

01:15and Leopardo, representatives.

01:17>> Good morning.

01:18>> Um, all right. We can get started right

01:20away.

01:20>> Uh, thank you, uh, chairperson. So, we

01:24are going to load a PowerPoint

01:26presentation and uh what we're doing

01:29today is the quarterly update that

01:31relates to the um capital improvements

01:34to the five police district buildings

01:36that we have um embarked on with uh Leo

01:39Partardo, who's here today. Um it was a

01:43uh 12-month project and we're round in

01:45the corner of completing those

01:47improvements in October. Um, so while we

01:51um uh while we're loading up the

01:53PowerPoint, why don't we go down the row

01:55here and introduce ourselves and then

01:57you could circle back to me for

01:58additional comments.

02:00>> Okay.

02:03>> Good morning. I'm Heather Gray. I'm the

02:05partnership executive for Leapardo and

02:07I'm very pleased to be here with you

02:08guys today and to share these updates

02:10and hopefully um you guys can see the

02:12wonderful progress that's been made over

02:14the police districts.

02:16and Derek

02:17>> Eric Betts. I'm a technical development

02:19manager for Leopardo, responsible for

02:21the construction side.

02:24>> Hi, I'm Drake Wallers, vice president of

02:26engineering for Leopardo Construction.

02:29Um, I in charge of developing the

02:31project as well as managing all the

02:33saving streams for the project.

02:36Um, so before I hand it over to Mark

02:38Dulick, just a reminder that we were

02:40before uh this committee in April and at

02:43the time we were in the midst of a

02:46massive undertaking of upgrading all of

02:48the police districts. Um, at the time we

02:50had a lot of before and after pictures

02:52and we had discussion early discussions

02:54about the energy efficiency savings as

02:57well as procurement savings that would

03:00essentially fund the improvement

03:01project. So today, as I mentioned, we're

03:04almost finished with those improvements.

03:05So I'm going to hand it over to Mark,

03:07who's going to go through this

03:08PowerPoint, and we're obviously happy to

03:10answer any questions that folks may

03:12have.

03:13>> Thank you, director. Uh through the

03:15chair, um we're really proud and excited

03:18to be able to share this update with

03:21city council. Um not only has it been, I

03:25think, a very effective process, it's

03:27actually been a very enjoyable process.

03:29um really appreciate that the uh actual

03:34police staff who work day in and day out

03:37at these stations have really been not

03:39only part of the process of getting it

03:40done but really been key to making sure

03:43that their operations have been able to

03:46continue to run smoothly. Another thing

03:48I just wanted to mention that um we're

03:50very excited about was that because the

03:54process allows for all that competitive

03:56sub bidding within the process um some

03:59of the subcontracts were bid in such a

04:00way that there was actually additional

04:02funding available for some of the

04:04quality of life improvements um that we

04:07think are not only essential obviously

04:09for the police and for the community but

04:11I think um really speaks to the power of

04:14uh this method of doing things because

04:17it uh with the procurement savings in

04:19particular, it really does allow us to

04:21to go beyond and really make these

04:23facilities that uh both the police and

04:26the community can be proud of. Once

04:27again, um with that, I will turn it over

04:29to our uh Leopardo team to go through

04:33the presentation. Thank you.

04:35>> Thank you.

04:35>> And Mark, is is somebody gonna have the

04:37clicker here? Do we need to Okay, good.

04:40>> In control.

04:40>> Thank you.

04:41>> Thank you, Mark. And and yes, I you

04:43know, as Mark mentioned, this is really

04:45a financial tool that the city has

04:47utilized to make these improvements

04:49through funding and savings that were

04:51accomplished through this program. And

04:53so from some of you might remember Oh,

04:55sorry.

04:56>> Yeah, just for the audience.

04:57>> Yes, sir.

04:58>> So, some of you might remember my

05:00background as a municipal finance

05:01officer. Um, and so we really do view

05:03this as a financial tool, but I also

05:05come home to a police officer every day.

05:07And so when we walked these buildings,

05:09when we toured them, you know, the

05:10before, we really saw what the

05:12operations, how they were impacted by

05:14the conditions of those assets. And now

05:17the improvements for the community as

05:19well as those officers are are very

05:21apparent. So Drake, you want to start

05:23the video for us and we'll kick it off

05:25there.

05:39Public safety facilities operate 24

05:41hours a day, 7 days a week. Their

05:43mechanical infrastructure has to be

05:45capable of supporting that mission

05:47continuously. Here, aging mechanical

05:50spaces were comprehensively modernized.

05:52Existing equipment, piping, duck work,

05:55insulation controls, and supporting

05:57systems were evaluated and upgraded

05:59[music] to improve reliability,

06:01operating efficiency, and overall

06:03building performance.

06:08The transformation you are seeing goes

06:10well beyond appearance. Modern

06:12mechanical equipment, properly insulated

06:14distribution systems, improved controls,

06:16and cleaner equipment environments can

06:19help reduce operating demands while

06:21providing more dependable heating,

06:23cooling, and ventilation for the

06:25personnel inside the facility. In a

06:27public safety building, reliability is

06:29not [music] simply a maintenance issue.

06:32It is an operational requirement.

06:41Building [music] improvements continued

06:42throughout the occupied areas of the

06:44facility. Lighting systems were

06:46modernized with high efficiency LED

06:48technology, improving illumination while

06:50reducing electrical consumption and

06:52long-term maintenance requirements.

06:56Ceilings, finishes, doors, corridors,

06:59and the other interior components were

07:00addressed to create a brighter, cleaner,

07:02more functional space designed for

07:04continuous daily use.

07:18High-use areas require durable

07:20solutions, locker and personnel spaces

07:23renewed to improve functionality,

07:25visibility, cleanliness, and the working

07:27environment for officers [music] and

07:29staff who rely on these facilities every

07:31day.

07:33These are not simply cosmetic

07:35improvements. They are investments in

07:37the spaces where public safety personnel

07:39prepare for and recover from their

07:41shifts.

07:44Energy infrastructure was also addressed

07:46at the building level. Rooftop solar

07:48generation converts previously unused

07:50roof area into energy producing asset,

07:54reducing the facility's dependence on

07:56purchased electricity and contributing

07:58to long-term operating savings. When

08:00deployed as part of a comprehensive

08:02modernization program, improvements such

08:05as these allow municipalities to address

08:07aging infrastructure while

08:08simultaneously reducing future energy

08:11costs.

08:15The building envelope and rooftop

08:17systems are equally critical. Roofing,

08:19ventilation equipment, penetrations, and

08:21associated components were modernized to

08:24protect the [music] structure, improve

08:26weather resistance, and support the

08:28performance of the systems operating

08:30beneath the roof. Exterior improvements

08:33address deterioration to the facility

08:35itself. Building surfaces, architectural

08:37elements, windows, entrances, concrete,

08:40and surrounding components were restored

08:43where needed. Protecting the structure

08:46while extending the useful life of the

08:48public asset from mechanical

08:50infrastructure and energy systems to

08:52interior spaces and exterior

08:54restoration.

08:56Each improvement [music] is part of a

08:58larger objective. build more reliable

09:00facilities, reduce long-term operating

09:03costs, protect the municipality's

09:05investment, and provide the men and

09:07women responsible for public safety with

09:09buildings capable of supporting their

09:11mission. That is comprehensive

09:14infrastructure modernization.

09:27So, we're going to walk you through um

09:29just kind of the progress. I think this

09:31will probably be our last update for you

09:33as we near construction completion. So,

09:36as you can see, you know, uh we were

09:37here before in April to give you these

09:39updates, but it's been a 10-month

09:40construction uh process. So, everything

09:43has been completed uh according to

09:45schedule and actually has come in under

09:47budget in some areas as Mark had pointed

09:49out. So, we were able to include

09:51additional scope items um to further

09:54improve those spaces for your public

09:55safety officers. Um, but within 10

09:58months we are able to accomplish almost

10:01$21 million worth of infrastructure

10:02improvements utilizing your local

10:04contractor base. Um, and really putting

10:07Cleveland workers um to be employed

10:10through this program and allow for these

10:12improvements to happen at your public

10:13safety facilities.

10:17So, we're going to walk you through some

10:18of these districts uh, you know, one by

10:20one and feel free to ask Eric any any

10:23detailed questions you might have about

10:25them. But Drake, you want to start off

10:26here? The first district. So, you can

10:29see here just an overview of the scope

10:31that was completed. Um, almost

10:33everything is is done at this facility.

10:36There's a little bit of interior design

10:37left to do, but we're actually um very

10:40happy to be uh able to walk you through

10:42these facilities uh sometime in the

10:44future. Uh especially the ones who walk

10:48through the first time around, the

10:49before and afters are pretty remarkable.

10:50So, Eric, you want to walk them through

10:52the improvements at District One?

10:54>> Sure. [clears throat]

10:55So here on the left, obviously the

10:57befores of the interior spaces. We've

10:59got one of the roll call rooms and

11:01reporting rooms before and after. And

11:04then just a central corridor on the

11:05second floor there that obviously has

11:07been cleaned up with new ceiling and

11:09lights.

11:11Um

11:13and this is the detectives area. Um we

11:16took all the stuff out of there. The

11:18before still dirty, needs new ceilings,

11:21lighting. Um, and so that's it renovated

11:23over there with new flooring, ceilings,

11:25lights, and controls.

11:30Toilet rooms that are obviously in dis

11:32disrepair that we uh ended up bringing

11:35up to speed. And then um not a water

11:38cooler and and then a water cooler. And

11:40we actually added all new electric water

11:42coolers to all of the stations, one,

11:44two, four, and five.

11:51So going into district two, you can see

11:53similar scope items here. Windows and

11:55doors, exterior facade, solar and

11:57electrical, and interior design almost

11:58complete. Everything will again be

12:00completed by the end of October. So

12:02Eric, you want to walk them through some

12:03of the photos?

12:06>> Yes. So here we have the uh existing

12:09roof uh with the new solar panels on on

12:12them as well as we did tuck pointing for

12:14the entire facility. That's just an

12:16example of us cocking the joints and

12:18making sure that the we'll last through

12:20the weather for the next 20 years.

12:23Again, new electric water coolers.

12:27And then the building will also get all

12:29new exterior doors. Uh so you can see

12:31the existing and versus the new. And

12:33then in the uh office area, new

12:36ceilings, lights, flooring, paint.

12:42>> Moving to the third district. This one

12:44was um in in better shape than the

12:46others. So, there wasn't a whole lot of

12:47work to be done there, but it was really

12:49just the solar and electrical work which

12:50has been completed to this date.

12:57>> And I believe we did tour uh station

12:59four and five. Is that correct, Eric?

13:01The first time. So, some of these are

13:02pretty remarkable before and after

13:04pictures. Um so, a lot of work that was

13:06completed. District 4. The boiler

13:08systems, HVAC systems, the exterior

13:10facade, solar and electrical, the

13:12interior design, concrete and exterior

13:14doors are are the last item to be

13:15completed, which will be um finished

13:17next month.

13:22>> Yeah. So, that's the existing stairway

13:24leading up to the front entrance. Um

13:25along with redoing the facade and the

13:27signage, we replaced those stairs, made

13:29them ADA friendly. Um and also, uh we

13:33basically tore them out, put all new in.

13:35And then that is a below is a reporting

13:38room area um that we renovated again new

13:41flooring, painting, ceilings, lights.

13:44>> One of the things that when we spoke to

13:46the council um in a previous update that

13:48we we heard from your feedback was it

13:50was very important to upgrade these

13:51facilities not just for the public

13:53safety officers but to make them safe

13:55spaces for the public to to walk into.

13:57So you can see very very much here

13:59before it would have been very difficult

14:00for somebody with any kind of u you know

14:03stability issue to get into that

14:05facility and now that's not the case.

14:36So for the top one, yes, that's a whole

14:39new stairway with new railings. The ADA

14:41ramps actually up to the left that was

14:43existing. Um but yes we did and we

14:46extended those stairway stairway out

14:48because it was it was not proper

14:50distance path to travel. Um

14:54the picture on the bottom uh we just

14:56took it from a different angle.

14:58>> Okay.

15:07>> Right. But we did

15:10>> and we would love to take you. That's

15:11right.

15:11>> Yeah. Councilman, we we're gonna have to

15:14Thank you.

15:14>> We got to go to the district.

15:18>> Okay. Go ahead.

15:21>> And then uh this is one of the locker

15:23rooms. We renovated all four of the

15:25district's locker rooms. Uh all new

15:27ceilings, lights, finishes,

15:30um and floor covering. And then we also

15:33added [clears throat] solar panels to

15:35this roof as well.

15:38Again,

15:40all the all the um personal and um

15:43public bathrooms are renovated. New

15:45paint, flooring, ceilings, lights, and

15:48all new HVAC systems uh for three of the

15:52districts.

15:57And last, we have district five where

16:00there was a significant amount of work

16:01uh that took place there. Basically,

16:03every scope item um was handled at this

16:06facility. and want to walk through that,

16:09Drake.

16:13>> So, again, looking at the and I believe

16:15we toured the locker rooms, uh, complete

16:18redo of the locker rooms, including new

16:20flooring, ceilings, lighting. Um, and

16:23then this particular district got a new

16:26roof, uh, as well as new solar and

16:28mechanical equipment on the top of it.

16:30This is why this program is so effective

16:32in these types of improvement projects

16:34because as you can see when you have a

16:36roof that leaks, it all comes into the,

16:38you know, to the ceiling, the tiles, the

16:40windows, the facade, all of it is so

16:42connected that utilizing a program like

16:44this to really do a refresh of the

16:46facility bottom to top um allows you to

16:49get more use out of that facility for

16:51many more years.

16:54Again,

16:57new mechanical equipment. That's the

16:58existing roof and exhaust fans and air

17:01handling units all replaced with new.

17:07And then the exterior of this building

17:09was in in pretty bad disrepair. So, we

17:11tuckointed replaced or repaired all of

17:14the concrete steps for the public

17:15pathways as well as the front signage.

17:19Made it more bold and more friendly.

17:25some additional pictures on that.

17:33>> So, as we mentioned in the beginning, we

17:35were able to uh accomplish all of these

17:37improvements within the 10-month window.

17:39Everything will be finished by uh

17:41October uh with the exception of these

17:43additional scope items that were added

17:45due to us coming in under budget um and

17:48working with the MOAP team to identify

17:50where we can use those extra dollars on

17:52additional scope opportunities.

17:58And and this here is actually a a a

18:00progress schedule. And I think the

18:02biggest point of this slide is to point

18:03out that each one of those colors is a

18:05different trade. So, if you would have

18:07done this project in a traditional bid

18:09out process, you would have had to bid

18:11out every single one of those different

18:13color items as opposed to doing it

18:15through the program where it's

18:16coordinated and on schedule on time. Um,

18:19through this program,

18:26one of the biggest uh items here, Drake,

18:28you want to go to the next one? Um, you

18:30know, this was a huge collaborative

18:32effort, not just with the MOCAP team,

18:34but with procurement, with the police

18:36department, with finance. Um, it took a

18:38lot of effort from the city staff, a lot

18:40of collaboration, and one of the biggest

18:41savings factors is the procurement

18:43savings. And so, Drake is going to walk

18:44you through that process now.

18:48>> Thank you, Heather. Yeah, as Heather

18:50mentioned, and as you know, uh,

18:52procurement is a major savings stream to

18:54help fund all of these projects for the

18:57renovations for the police districts.

18:59And this is just a slide I believe we

19:00showed you before just showing our

19:02continuous engagement of analyzing all

19:06of these purchase orders going through

19:08the city working closely with a

19:10procurement department to determine

19:12where some efficiencies can be made and

19:15where we can maximize the city's

19:16purchasing power. And the next couple

19:19slides, I want to show you basically our

19:21progress to date and targets that we

19:24have secured savings and some additional

19:27targets that we're looking to ident have

19:29identified already as savings. So to

19:31start here uh with the telecom. So um

19:36you may know that the city has an

19:38extensive network of telecom lines and

19:42this was a a multi-month effort with our

19:44procurement team and several departments

19:47within the city just to figure out where

19:50all these lines serve how they're being

19:52built. So, it was a matter of working

19:54closely with their existing vendor,

19:56going through hundreds of pages of

19:57invoices and reports to determine just

20:00to determine this number, this 2477

20:04lines um that were costing the city over

20:07$8 million.

20:09And through uh various um vetting

20:13efforts um through different solutions,

20:15we secured a solution to convert all of

20:17these old copper lines to a voiceover IP

20:20solution and securing savings of over

20:22$6.8 million annually. And this is going

20:26to be our biggest savings stream

20:29through all the procurement activities

20:31to help fund this project.

20:34As you can see there also some of the

20:36other um identified savings

20:38opportunities where directly related

20:40with the police department. Um the this

20:43the shooting targets that was something

20:45uh we worked very closely with the

20:46police to understand their needs and

20:48source a vendor that could uh fulfill

20:50those needs at a more competitive price.

20:53Um there were some other opportunities

20:54we explored that we ultimately did not

20:57um go down that path or execute those

21:00contracts, but this is an ongoing

21:01process looking at ways that we can save

21:04money within the police department to

21:05fund these improvements.

21:09>> It's important to point out too that

21:11there's no compromise in any of these

21:12services, telecom, uh targets, um even

21:16this apparel savings here. This is just

21:19um electing into a consortium. So, we're

21:21actually going to the same vendor just

21:22getting better pricing.

21:24>> We have weekly meetings with the

21:26procurement team. So, um we're all very

21:28much working together on this to

21:30accomplish these savings and they've

21:32been um actually really great to work

21:34with throughout this entire process.

21:37>> So, in addition to the 6 over $6.8

21:39million that we've already secured

21:41between these three items, we have an

21:43additional $1.1 million in identified

21:45savings. And these are the next targets

21:47that we're looking at in the next few

21:49months. Um, we're looking at fuel.

21:51There's an agreement coming up in 2027

21:53that'll be expiring. So, we're carefully

21:56reviewing that right now. Um, in terms

21:58of, uh, this is your, uh, unlimited gas

22:01and diesel for the city. So, we're

22:03drawing up requirements right now,

22:05sourcing vendors, um, as well as tire

22:07disposal. Um, that's that's a

22:09competitive bid that's that's going out

22:11very soon. We've been working closely

22:12with the procurement department with

22:13that. Uh, rental vehicles. Um, there's a

22:17couple different strategies we're

22:18evaluating there. um saving on vehicle

22:21rentals. Do we do we buy vehicles that

22:24we're renting? So, that's something that

22:26we're evaluating as well and disposal

22:29supplies. So, this is mostly um garbage

22:31cans or waste collection cans that we're

22:33evaluating right now. All of these are

22:35in competitive bid. So, right now it's

22:37we're in just the analysis phase, vendor

22:40engagement, and vendor sourcing phase.

22:42So, we believe there's over $1.1 million

22:45in just these four targets alone, and

22:48that's what we'll be engaging in the

22:49next few months.

22:50>> And all of these savings are part of the

22:52overall guarantee um with this program.

22:55So, in addition to the energy savings

22:57that we're going to cover, um these

22:59procurement savings are part of that

23:00guaranteed number that goes towards uh

23:03funding these improvements.

23:09So, in addition to the procurement

23:11savings, there is still an energy

23:13savings component. Um, going through all

23:15these buildings, installing solar on all

23:17the roofs, as well as replacing all of

23:20the mechanical equipment, upgrading all

23:23the lights to efficient LED lighting.

23:26There's a significant amount of

23:27electrical savings here, 1.2 million KW

23:30annually across all five districts, or

23:33almost $120,000 a year annually. In

23:36addition to that, there is um an a tax a

23:41tax incentive or tax credit uh for

23:44installing the solar. We have identified

23:46about over $435,000.

23:49And it and we are contracted to uh help

23:53the city secure those those grants. Any

23:56grants or incentives, we're we're

23:57contracted to help with securing those.

24:00So, we're in the process of doing the

24:01paperwork and filing the tax credit to

24:03get that.

24:05And just some environmental benefits

24:07below here. 1.2 million pounds of CO2

24:11saved annually. That's the equivalent of

24:13um powering 417 electric vehicles or

24:16charging 35 million smartphones

24:18annually. So, just some kind of soft

24:20environmental benefits we always like to

24:22we like to illustrate.

24:25And a big um factor in this project was

24:27not just making these improvements and

24:28making them more efficient, but also

24:30making those facilities more resilient.

24:32You know, they're critical facilities.

24:33They need to operate 247 and enabling

24:36the systems to have a resiliency um

24:39opportunity so that the districts don't

24:42experience any any times when there

24:44don't have power or access to power.

24:53And last but not least um by any means

24:55is the the local impact of this project.

24:58So we were committed to utilizing local

25:00labor jobs created through this program

25:02were 376

25:04um this generated additional tax revenue

25:06because we used the local labor force.

25:09Um and one of the things that I know is

25:11very important to the city of Cleveland

25:12as well as all of the council members we

25:14spoke to was making sure that we were

25:16hitting our um OEO numbers. And so all

25:18of this is documented. We we uh have

25:21exceeded the participation requirements

25:23that were um put upon us and we continue

25:26to utilize those local um trades, local

25:29businesses and um continue to have that

25:32progress documented through the city.

25:39So, we are happy to answer any questions

25:41you may have, but um hopefully you guys

25:44see the big improvements that were made

25:46at those facilities, not only to allow

25:48your public safety officers to operate

25:50and function more efficiently, um but

25:53providing safe spaces for the public to

25:55come to, showing that you value those

25:57public safety workers with the difficult

25:59job that they have and and really um

26:01refreshing those spaces that they they

26:03report to every day. Um we'll be very

26:06happy to take any of you on a tour of

26:08the after um when your schedules allow

26:10and um we're happy to answer any

26:12questions.

26:14>> Mr. Chairman, if I could um just to just

26:17to emphasize that one of the great

26:19things that happened here with Leopardo

26:20is that they attacked all of the police

26:23stations at the same time. So it wasn't

26:24a um one station at a time approach. And

26:28it was really impressive when I went to

26:30the stations to see how the work was

26:32coming along just to see the sheer

26:34number of of workers that were on each

26:35of the sites. And that's really what was

26:37reflected in that last slide. Um so I

26:40also wanted to emphasize that um the

26:43procurement savings is something that

26:45Leopardo specifically brings to the

26:47table. They have uh developed um a

26:50proprietary system if you will to assist

26:52governments with those um procurement

26:55savings. So we uh we embraced that and

26:57like I said, we were at the table um

26:59with them sharing, you know, um invoices

27:02and procurement strategies that they

27:05allowed us to um they could give us

27:08improvements on. Um and then finally, if

27:10we could just have Director Dwin speak

27:12for a few minutes about sort of the the

27:15intended impact of this on his

27:17workforce, um I would appreciate that.

27:22Thanks, director, and uh thanks uh

27:25committee. Um from being a police

27:27officer for over 35 years here in the

27:30city of Cleveland and working in just

27:32about all the districts, all five

27:33districts from district one where I

27:35started back in 1989. Um assigned as a

27:38commander or promoted to commander, went

27:40out to district five, uh northeast side

27:43and so forth. just again just being in

27:45in and out of uh the various uh

27:47districts and so forth to see this

27:49transformation is is very impressive. Um

27:53this in my opinion will um help in our

27:57retention of our officers. Um our

27:59numbers and retentions have steadily

28:01gone down from a few years ago and this

28:03will help. I believe this also will help

28:05with our hiring of officers coming in to

28:07look at the facilities that we currently

28:09have. And just as important as um again

28:12spending so much time in these

28:14facilities, it's important to know that

28:15the the city of Cleveland and this

28:17administration, this government and the

28:19folks that work here really care about

28:20the officers. And I know they do. I know

28:23they do do. But this right here really

28:26exemplifies that. Uh when you come to a

28:28building that you spend so much time in

28:30to know that uh the city really cares

28:32about you and they're going to invest um

28:35dollars to make sure the facilities that

28:37you're in are safe and warm and

28:39inviting. not only to them but also to

28:41the general public as well who come to

28:43these facilities for help as a safe

28:45haven be able to come in there to these

28:48facilities again to know that uh the

28:50city of Cleveland really cares about the

28:52facilities themselves they're critical

28:54infrastructures no question about it and

28:56mentioned before about resiliency and

28:58having the ability to make sure these

29:00facilities will be here for a while and

29:02uh this particular um leopard um again

29:07has done a phenomenal job to get these

29:09facilities in the conditions that

29:11they're in now. To see the fifth

29:13district, I spent most of my time in the

29:14fifth district the way it is now is just

29:16unbelievable. If you'd have told me uh

29:19five years ago, 10 years ago, even when

29:20I came on the job uh 35 years ago, that

29:23this facilities will look like this, I

29:24would tell you, you're absolutely nuts.

29:25To be able to do the things that they

29:27did, replace all the HVAC and all that

29:30and and the things they did, the facade

29:32and outside in the fourth district as

29:34well. Again, just extremely um it's

29:36really impressive. Um the officers are

29:39happy uh to be able to come into almost

29:42a relatively new facility with the

29:44lighting and so forth. It's not dark in

29:46there. Um the roofs are not leaking.

29:48Again, just really impressed with uh

29:50what Leopardo did and the officers are

29:52are are going to be happy with the

29:54facilities that they're in now. So, just

29:55want to again just say kudos and great

29:57job. And also another important aspect

30:00of it is to be able to do that all at

30:02the same time. That's really impressive.

30:04It's not one district at a time. that's

30:06all five district at the same time and

30:08then to be creative in the financing and

30:12to be able to save monies and so forth

30:14and dollars. So again, just um really

30:16excited about it and I'm really

30:17impressed with the work that's done.

30:22>> All right. Uh thank you, director. Uh

30:24and uh so I got a couple questions and I

30:28don't want to spend a whole lot of time

30:29on this. Um the um roof roofs um were

30:33they are were those roofs tell me about

30:38what did you do to the roofs? I mean you

30:40can just pick one. I think district five

30:42was had the worst looking roof. What did

30:44you do to that roof? How long is the uh

30:47warranty on that roof and just explain

30:49to us what did you did? Was it Was it

30:51rubber? Was it Could you explain that?

30:56>> That's fine. Yeah. So district all the

30:59one, two, four, and three, and four all

31:01have roofs that are already under

31:02warranty. So we did not replace those

31:04roofs. We did replace the district five

31:06roof, which had the biggest problems.

31:09And that roof warranty is 30 years.

31:12>> Okay. So what kind of roof is it? D

31:14>> It's a uh

31:17hybrid.

31:18Um

31:21it's got a weather barrier. I don't know

31:23the technical term. has a weather

31:24barrier and then um there's a tar that

31:27goes down and then stone.

31:29>> Okay. So, it's kind of a stone roof.

31:31>> Yeah. It's gravel on the top, right?

31:33That's to prevent wear and tear to the

31:35surfaces below it. So, if you're walking

31:37on it, it's not hurting it. We also re

31:40um angled everything so that it drains

31:42properly.

31:43>> Okay.

31:43>> Um

31:44>> Okay. All right. And um with the locker

31:48room replacements

31:50um I noticed that you replace all the

31:52lockers, the flooring and the lighting.

31:54Did you do anything with the plumbing in

31:55the locker rooms or is the plumbing

31:57replaced?

31:59We we did not replace the fixtures, but

32:02we did repair any of the plumbing issues

32:04that existed. And we also replaced all

32:06the showers and made them more conducive

32:08for the officers to use them. So, we

32:10replaced all the shower fixtures and

32:12then we added partitions so that they

32:14could they and this was in the men's and

32:17the women's.

32:18>> Okay. Um

32:22uh the

32:27projected energy incentives. You had

32:29that in one of your slides. What are can

32:31you explain touch on what are the

32:33projected energy incentives? Those are

32:36the IRA tax credit uh rebates for the

32:39solar installation project. So, that

32:41will be coming to the city. Drake, is

32:42that correct? Um Drake, is it this uh

32:462027, the fall of 2027 when those

32:48credits will be issued to the city?

32:51>> Yes. Yeah, that's when we're expecting

32:52it. Yes.

32:53>> So, as part of the contract, we we work

32:55with a a tax firm that files all the

32:57paperwork for the city. It's all part of

32:58the the guaranteed price. Um so we're

33:01working on that process right now and

33:03expect to have that payment given to the

33:04city next year.

33:06>> Okay. Another thing um was important is

33:08that our lobbies where the public come

33:11into the districts. I know the when the

33:13public walks into the up the steps,

33:16they're going to see brand new steps,

33:18but are are they going to have a

33:19different experience when they come into

33:20the lobby of the districts? Do we do any

33:23improvements to the lobby of any

33:24districts?

33:26>> Yes. And I think Drake, if you want to

33:28go to the construction photos, I believe

33:30in in the first one, it shows a pretty

33:32good um demonstration of kind of the

33:35before and after of the hallway. Even

33:37everything in these districts have been

33:39lightened. They're brighter. They look

33:40clean. They look inviting. Um but again,

33:43we'd be happy to take you on a tour to

33:45walk through it and see it for yourself.

33:46But yeah, I think you could see here the

33:48the bottom photos kind of demonstrate

33:50what that that hallway presence was

33:52versus what it is today.

33:54>> Okay. All right. All right. All right,

33:56I'm going to open up questions for the

33:57committee.

33:59Uh, Councilman Harsh.

34:03>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, with the solar

34:05through the chair, with the solar

34:06panels, are those tied directly into the

34:08station so that in the case of a daytime

34:10power outage, the the district building

34:13will stay running.

34:16>> So, they're not they're not used for

34:18backup power because the utility does

34:20not allow them to do that, but they

34:21could be. Um the every station has

34:24backed up backup diesel generators or

34:27natural gas generators and so that's

34:29what actually would provide the power to

34:30the building.

34:31>> Okay.

34:31>> Um but generally speaking the utility

34:33regulations don't allow for the solar

34:35themselves to back up the

34:37>> Okay. So uh what are the solar panels

34:39tied into then?

34:40>> They're they're tied into the service

34:42but they will only operate when the

34:44utility is actually operating. So what

34:46we're doing is we're utilizing that

34:47energy instead of as much utility

34:49energy. Okay. But general utility

34:51regulations are that they can't operate

34:54stand alone, okay,

34:55>> without normal power there.

34:57>> So they subsidize the uh the electric

35:00needs of the building during the day,

35:02but if the power goes out, they're not

35:04going to be the backup. There's going to

35:05be a generator in the basement that

35:06kicks in and keeps the place running.

35:09>> Correct.

35:09>> Okay. Um through the chair, I noticed

35:12that uh I don't know if every building

35:14has this, but I know Second District

35:16used to have I to second district, by

35:17the way. went down and looked at second

35:19district a while ago and it was fairly

35:20depressing. So, it's good to see some uh

35:23some updates. Um, but uh second district

35:26had jails and they were just sort of

35:28used as storage rooms because we don't

35:31house people down there anymore. So,

35:33through the chair, how did you address

35:34the jails in the different uh districts

35:36and what's going on in those spaces now?

35:41>> From from an interior perspective, uh we

35:43did not address the jail areas that

35:45much. They're actually pretty clean and

35:46and as we know are used for storage

35:49currently. Um I'm not sure what the

35:51future plans are. I don't know if you

35:53>> um through the chair um since we no

35:57longer utilize the jails, they are

35:59basically uh cleaned up and used for

36:03whatever purposes the police individual

36:06districts want to use them for. It's uh

36:08to remove the jail accutraments, the

36:12concrete, this the bars and everything

36:14like that was is very expensive.

36:17>> So um we chose not to address that and

36:20take advantage of that additional space

36:21at this time because we didn't

36:23understand it from the division of

36:24police to be a need at this time.

36:26>> So they so they basically remain storage

36:28rooms

36:30>> the chair to councilman. Yeah, they're

36:32pretty much storage and what the

36:33district decided to do with them and to

36:35the point they're would have been really

36:36expensive to remove all the the bars and

36:39so forth.

36:40>> Okay. Um, one more. Uh, the phones

36:44switching over from copper line to VoIP.

36:46Um, I know the copper carries its own

36:48electric charge and when power goes out,

36:50old phone lines work. Um, but VOIPE

36:53won't. Uh so through the chair what what

36:56is was there any consideration to um I

36:59don't know if there's any requirements

37:01that the uh police departments have you

37:05know consistent

37:08uh you know communication capacity and

37:11whether or not that came into play at

37:12all or or maybe it didn't. I'm just

37:14curious. I'm watching the whole country

37:16go from copper to voipe and it's always

37:18sort of a nagging thought in the back of

37:19my head copper works when everything

37:21else doesn't. um and VOIPE goes down

37:23when everything else does. So, I'm just

37:25curious what considerations went into

37:26that in terms of making sure that the

37:29departments can always communicate.

37:30>> And through the chair, I'm going to

37:31actually defer to Drake on the the

37:33technicalities of this, but I do think

37:34it's important to point out that this

37:35particular solution is related to your

37:38POTS lines. So, these lines are uh

37:40primarily alarm and elevators. They're

37:42not telephone lines. And the existing

37:45infrastructure is basically antiquated.

37:47And that's part of the reason why it's

37:49become so expensive. they've the federal

37:51government has deregulated um the the

37:53cost increases for that particular

37:56solution and so month after month those

37:59those rates are going up and they've you

38:01know put the city on notice about this.

38:03So um Drake do you want to speak to the

38:05technology?

38:08>> Uh yes through the chair. Um yeah I

38:10wasn't I'm not aware of that the power

38:12actually goes out for the phone lines

38:14still. Um I was believe that they still

38:16have power for the phone lines and if

38:18anything most of our these are emergency

38:21type lines like fire alarms. So if there

38:24were a a power outage like Eric said we

38:27have a lot of backup generation and in a

38:30lot of facilities too.

38:32But I can look further into if there is

38:36a significant disruption if there's a

38:38complete power outage um for some of

38:40these buildings with the VoIP system. So

38:43this this actually this technology um

38:46there the the previous vendor had a

38:49solution um that that we evaluated as

38:51well. We ended up going with a different

38:54vendor um for the modernized equipment

38:57um and a better pricing um but that was

39:00very um much vetted through the telecom

39:03department as well as the police

39:05department and procurement.

39:07Um my last question is uh through the

39:10chair I don't who wants to answer this

39:11but what is our the expected life span

39:14of our existing buildings now that this

39:17investment is complete um some of these

39:19buildings are 50 60 70 years old um

39:24third district's brand new is uh what is

39:26our expected lifespan here for the

39:28buildings themselves

39:34>> um thank you councilman through the

39:35chair

39:36um typically as a rubric in capital

39:40projects we like to invest for a life

39:43expectancy of at least 50 years. So when

39:46we came to the point with these

39:48buildings which were 50 70 years old or

39:51for any of our buildings that are that

39:53old once we've replaced all the systems

39:56um done exterior restoration put a new

39:58roof on it and made them good to go for

40:01a while I think it would come down to

40:02the the need from a capital perspective

40:06to plan for system replacement once that

40:08system has

40:10lived its purposeful life. The one that

40:12gets the most wear and tear for certain

40:14is the um HVAC systems. So those would

40:19need some renovations sometime probably.

40:22Uh maybe the folks Leopard can help me

40:24out. Um 20 to 30 years we would need to

40:27look at again upgrading the systems or

40:30replacing the things that are worn out.

40:32I think um I will say that part of this

40:35and part of the legislation that uh made

40:38this all possible included the fact that

40:40we're going to have maintenance

40:42contracts specifically for the HVAC

40:44systems and control. I know that's a

40:46long answer to a relatively short

40:48question. It's just that buildings are

40:50pretty complicated things I think as

40:52everybody knows and I think the spirit

40:54of this is we want to keep these

40:56buildings in good uh maintainable and

40:59operable condition for as long as

41:01possible. Um I I don't think that the

41:04structures themselves now that they are

41:07renovated um will last any less than 30

41:10to 50 years more.

41:13>> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's all.

41:15>> All right. Thank you, Councilman. Uh

41:16Councilman Kazy.

41:20>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um Mr.

41:22Chairman, to our our friends at Leopard,

41:24I tooured the first district and uh

41:26overly impressed. I mean, it's the

41:28difference between night and day

41:30walking. The fact that you can actually

41:31open the front doors now at the first

41:33district is a huge improvement. My one

41:37question is um Mr. Chairman to our to

41:40Leopardo is the lockers right that are

41:43in the locker room. So they were just

41:45painted over without

41:48taking any of the rust or anything like

41:50that off of the lockers and now you can

41:54see rust coming through again even after

41:57they've been painted. Is there any

41:59intention or was that part of uh the

42:03contract uh to actually restore the

42:05lockers

42:09>> uh through the chair? Um if we should

42:11walk that and I'll I'll evaluate that

42:13and we should clean that up. That should

42:14not be the case. All right.

42:15>> So yeah, what what was the goal was to

42:18restore them

42:20uh grind the metal, make sure that that

42:22>> I don't think the metal was grinded.

42:24>> Yeah. So we'll we'll we'll address that.

42:26>> All right. And then um Mr. chairman to

42:29uh the director uh Leopardo indicated

42:33that there's a $6.5 million savings. Uh

42:39is that a year? Okay, that's a year.

42:42Will that will that savings

42:45um be put back into these facilities? In

42:50other words, if you if you walk into the

42:52third and I'm I'm gonna you I don't know

42:54why I'm stuck on the lockers, right? But

42:55if you walk into the third district and

42:57you see the lockers, right, much

43:00different than the first, second,

43:02fourth, and fifth. Is there a

43:04possibility of taking

43:06the savings that we're doing, the 6.5

43:09million a year, and reinvesting to

43:13continue to upgrade

43:15uh

43:17the the the districts

43:21uh through the chairman, the council

43:23man. So, um we have a scope of work that

43:28was expanded due to um good pricing u

43:32for this project and that included the

43:34slides where they talked about windows

43:35and whatnot. But the scope of this work

43:39um is is fully funded with the

43:41procurement and the energy savings. And

43:44so we're not intending to go back to do

43:46additional improvements at these

43:47stations. Um I I with the exception of

43:51furniture which is not

43:53you know, was not included in their

43:55scope. Um, I'd like to propose in a

43:57future capital improvement plan that

43:59that the fire districts or the police

44:02districts get new furniture. Um, but um

44:05but that would be the completion of the

44:07work that we intend at the at the police

44:09districts.

44:10>> Okay. And Mr. Chairman, to the director,

44:13what was the overall amount of this

44:15project for all five districts? Just one

44:18big total.

44:19>> 21.

44:22through the chair. It was just under 21

44:24million.

44:24>> All right. And just under 21 million.

44:26And you guys did a yman's job of busting

44:29this stuff out and getting it done.

44:32>> I think under budget, correct? Or right

44:34at budget. Um, but quicker than was

44:38anticipated. That's a lot of work in a

44:41short period of time. How many of those

44:45workers were were local contractors or

44:48how many were union contractors?

44:50All

44:51>> okay. Okay. And the

44:55>> Okay. And then the second question was,

44:58did did you run into any problem with

45:00any of our local unions here about

45:04bringing in other unions to do the work

45:07as opposed to using city employees who

45:11are union?

45:13>> Oh, through the chair. I did not run

45:15into any problems with that.

45:16>> Okay. All right. I just want to know if

45:17we could also go back to your pipeline.

45:21Um,

45:23the slide schedule

45:25>> this. Yeah. Um,

45:26>> this one or the schedule one with all

45:27the colors?

45:28>> Nope. Keep going. I think it was under

45:31procurement.

45:35>> It was one with the vehicles and the

45:36gas. Oh.

45:37>> Oh, okay.

45:39>> Yeah. Procurement.

45:51There you go.

45:54So, Mr. chairman to to the director

45:58if this is in Leo Leopardo's target in

46:01the pipeline right with vehicle rentals

46:04fuel tire disposal and disposal supplies

46:11was Leopardo just contracted to do the

46:13work in other words I'm I'm wondering is

46:16this outside the scope of what we

46:19contracted Leopardo to do in other words

46:22why are you getting into fuel why are

46:24you getting into running vehicles. Why

46:25are you getting into disposal supplies?

46:28Why I mean are you guys going out for

46:31competitive bids for these things and

46:33why is Leapardo doing it as opposed to

46:36the city? So, uh, through the chairman

46:38of the councilman, this was, um, indeed

46:41part of their scope to look at

46:42procurement savings and procurement is,

46:46um, not only allowed under the Ohio

46:49Revised Code for energy efficiency

46:51contracts, but it's it's kind of the

46:54secret sauce that Leopardo brings to the

46:56table. um as they've assisted other

46:58municipalities with these types of

47:00savings, they've created um I guess I'll

47:03say um a process of procedure with their

47:06databases to assist um municipalities to

47:10find additional savings. So yes, it was

47:13part of their scope and um the reason

47:15these are in the pipeline, correct me if

47:17I'm wrong, is because they're still

47:18working towards that 21 million of of of

47:21savings, if you will.

47:23>> So Mr. Chairman to Leopardo, give me an

47:25example of disposal supplies

47:32>> through the chair. Most of those

47:34disposal supplies would be uh garbage

47:37cans supplied to the city. So,

47:39>> all right. And then we'll just take that

47:40was an as an example, Mr. Chairman, to

47:43the director. Isn't that something that

47:46Department of Waste Management should be

47:47handling or are they working with I I

47:51just want to make sure we're not

47:52creating a semiquasi

47:54government here that are going to start

47:57coming in and doing the job of city

48:02departments and everything.

48:03>> So through the chairman of the

48:04councilman great question and I really

48:06didn't think of that aspect of it when

48:08you asked her first question. So they

48:10work directly with all the departments

48:12that are involved in a particular type

48:14of procurement and they follow all of

48:17our internal procurement rules, all of

48:20our um vendor selection rules.

48:24Essentially, they're giving us advice so

48:27that we can follow our own procurement

48:29rules to better the pricing that we're

48:32receiving. So there's there's nothing

48:35that that Leopard is doing that takes us

48:38outside of our rules and regulations.

48:40They're just giving us the advice on how

48:43to do it more efficiently. Could we do

48:45that ourselves? Yes. But they have the

48:48expertise to teach us how to do it

48:50better without going through uh a

48:53lengthy educational process on our side

48:56alone.

48:56>> All right. Mr. Chairman, to the to the

48:58director, when is the contract end with

49:01Leopard then?

49:02Um, well, there's a couple different

49:04things. So, their construction contract

49:07will be closed out in October, but then

49:09there's sort of a a a tail on this with

49:12regard to their guarantee that we're

49:16receiving the um energy efficiency and

49:19procure procurement savings that that

49:22are guaranteed by them. I'll have

49:24Leopardo speak to the guarantee, but um

49:27one thing I wanted to reference is that

49:31we also have to provide proper

49:33maintenance of the of the of the new

49:35systems that they're putting in the

49:36building. So, part of our obligation is

49:39to make sure that we have um proper

49:42maintenance of the of the um new

49:45improvements going forward. And so,

49:48that's our responsibility as a city. But

49:50if you could speak to how long the tail

49:52is and and when the check marks are the

49:54benchmarks

49:55>> for the chair. So if you you might

49:56remember when we were here uh asking for

49:58approval of the project last year uh

50:00there was a very large energy

50:01conservation report that was delivered

50:03to to the council and that really

50:05outlines all of the the scope items, all

50:07of the savings calculations and once

50:09construction is complete, we'll go

50:11through a measurement and verification

50:12process that happens annually. So

50:14there's three years of that built into

50:15the contract. Um, and then the city can

50:17continue that process if they would like

50:19to do so after that three-year mark.

50:21>> All right. And then my last question,

50:23Mr. Chairman, to to uh Leopard, any of

50:26this uh equipment that you put in, the

50:29HVAC or anything, is any of that stuff

50:30proprietary

50:32if if something happens to go wrong with

50:34it?

50:36>> So, the I mean, the equipment is a

50:39certain manufacturer, but there's

50:40nothing proprietary to where you need to

50:42use that manufacturer or a certain

50:43vendor to maintain it. And the building

50:45automation systems that are put in are

50:47all open source, so you could have any

50:50>> reputable service company maintain it.

50:53>> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank

50:54you.

50:54>> All right. Thank you, Councilman Kazy.

50:55Councilman Shaw.

50:57>> Thank you, Chair. Uh just a couple quick

51:00questions. I appreciate the

51:01presentation. Learned a lot. Um wanted

51:04to just understand I'm trying to um when

51:07we talked about improving the um places

51:11for folks to walk in on. Just curious to

51:14the director through the chair. How on

51:16average how many walk-ins are we seeing

51:19across the stations? Um

51:22>> yeah,

51:23>> through the chair, Councilman. Uh good

51:26question. Um not prepared for that

51:27particular to give you that, but I can

51:29get that information for you. Um and uh

51:32turn it into the committee.

51:34>> That would be great. Yeah, I'm just kind

51:35of trying to understand as I'm sure

51:37technology evolves and the way people

51:39are calling the police changes. I wanted

51:41to just understand what kind of foot

51:43traffic we're actually expecting and

51:45we're seeing right now. So that would be

51:46really helpful.

51:47>> I I know that uh again through the chair

51:49council know we still receive walk-ins

51:51at uh all the five districts um district

51:54one through district five. The extent

51:56and how many I I can get the information

51:58to you.

51:58>> That would be great. Thank you. And if

51:59yeah that could be like averaged out for

52:01each of the different districts that

52:02would be great. Just so I think that

52:03would also help committee members to

52:06understand what their neighborhood uh

52:07patterns are like. Thank you. um to the

52:10director through the chair on the

52:12presentation. I think we saw it was it

52:14said $1.1 million in in savings. Could

52:17you could we go back to that slide just

52:19so I'm referencing the correct number

52:23right there? Yeah. Um so 1.1 million

52:28identified savings. Um can you just

52:31briefly explain where that comes from?

52:32Is that from the energy savings itself

52:35>> and through through the chair? So if you

52:37see here these telecom lines, the

52:39shooting targets and the um the apparel

52:42which is the police uniforms, those have

52:44been secured, meaning that we went

52:45through uh a strategy, we identified a

52:48good opportunity, proposed it to the

52:49city. The city has accepted it and has

52:51moved forward with the contract with

52:53those vendors. Um the 1.1 million is

52:56identified savings that if Drake, you

52:57can go to the next slide where we

52:59discuss these these other that are in

53:01the pipeline essentially

53:03>> that we're still exploring. It's an

53:04ongoing thing and so long as we're

53:06working with the city um we're going to

53:08continue to help find these

53:10opportunities for for better pricing and

53:12you know better performance uh when it

53:14comes to your goods and services.

53:16>> That's great. And in your experience

53:17with the chair is that a significant

53:20amount of savings? I'm not really

53:21familiar with this field. So I'm trying

53:23to understand in terms of how much money

53:25we're save saving is that a lot of

53:26money. uh through the chair. For

53:28instance, the telecom is is a

53:30significant amount and part of that was

53:32a lot of work working with the city's

53:34team. Um honestly, just getting some of

53:36that invoice data, untangling that web

53:38of where these lines are all going,

53:41looking at alternative proposals,

53:42evaluating different vendors for

53:44reliability. Um it's it was a long

53:47process. Um but it's very fruitful here.

53:50Um, and we're very happy that we were

53:51able to work with the city to identify

53:53and secure these savings so that can

53:55ultimately be reinvested into the police

53:57uh districts.

53:58>> That's great. Thank you. And uh to the I

54:00I don't know which of the directors

54:01wants to take this one. Uh I wanted to

54:04kind of understand we talked about how

54:06we're learning from Leopard about the

54:08ways we can do better. Have we learned?

54:11Are we going to be able to do this on

54:13our own in the future without uh any

54:15handholding? Um so um uh through the

54:19chair of the council and yes and no. So

54:21it's really our procurement uh uh

54:24division and the folks that really work

54:26on this that we're learning from. We're

54:29we're we're kind of pulling out all the

54:31savings we can out of the police

54:32districts. And um so yes, there are

54:35there's learning that's happening here

54:36that could help us in other parts of the

54:38city. Um, I would also say that um these

54:42types of savings could allow us to roll

54:45this program into other types of

54:46buildings like fire stations, like

54:48recreation centers. So um and and just

54:52as a reminder to council um while this

54:55is debt, it's considered differently

54:59um than bond issuance debt because

55:02there's a stream of savings that can pay

55:05off the debt. And so we're as a city,

55:09we're kind of incentivized, if you will,

55:11to think about how to use future savings

55:14like this in other similar ways as

55:17opposed to just um making those

55:20improvements for the sake of the

55:22improvements, if that makes sense. Like

55:24we have to be smart about how we take on

55:26debt. And this is a way to um to make

55:30improvements without the the typical

55:32type of debt that you would um you know

55:35that that the credit agencies would look

55:37at.

55:37>> That's that's good to hear. Um and

55:40follow up on that then. So my

55:42understanding is we are in procurement.

55:44We have folks who are learning this

55:47process and they're going to start being

55:48able to also do this on their own in the

55:50future for other buildings without the

55:52help of a outside consultant. um through

55:55the chairman of the councilman, we are

55:57learning every day. Um we would um at

56:01the end of the day there are um um

56:05different ways to improve um our systems

56:08and we are learning how to do that. Um I

56:10will say that the analysis that Leopardo

56:13did was a proprietary

56:16sort of um uh I don't know tech it

56:21analysis. So it's it's not like we could

56:24do everything, but we we now know

56:26certain things that are lowhanging

56:28fruit, if you will, that we could pursue

56:30on our own if we wish to.

56:33>> I see. I understand Learda has to have a

56:35future of its own. So we understand

56:37having some proprietary tech. Um my

56:40final uh follow-up question to either of

56:42the directors that wants to um answer

56:44through the chair, the $1.1 million, is

56:47that a lot of money from your

56:49perspective? What's what are some of the

56:50things that we could be putting that

56:51towards

56:56>> through the chair councilman? Yes,

56:57that's that's a lot of money and as

56:59mentioned by director um D. Rosa, you

57:02know, I don't think that um that

57:05furniture was part of it. Um and as you

57:08go through the the various districts,

57:09there are old furniture in there. Um and

57:11I think the money can be used to help uh

57:13again augment what we need in those five

57:16districts relative to relative to desk,

57:18furniture, chairs and so forth. So yes

57:21uh that money can be used for that and

57:22other things.

57:23>> Uh I think I'll just wrap up with just

57:26what so what I'm flagging I guess for

57:28the rest of the committee is this

57:29process from the beginning from before

57:31we even got Leopardo on the consulting

57:33RFQ finding all of this the construction

57:36phase getting the results. This is a

57:38yearslong process. Is that correct? and

57:40that is resulting in us in amongst other

57:43savings $1.1 million to be saved. It I

57:46think that behooves the city in in

57:48putting that effort in. U but I know we

57:51have other pieces here today that are

57:52coming up. I just want the committee to

57:54also think about what other ways we can

57:55save $1.1 million, put that back towards

57:58city services. Thank you.

57:59>> All right. Thank you, Councilman Shaw.

58:01Um I'm next I'm going to go to uh

58:03Councilwoman Hudson.

58:08>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um kind of

58:10following up um on the line of

58:12questioning from Councilman Shaw through

58:14the chair, how was um Leopardo selected?

58:18Um did you go through an RFP process

58:22>> uh through the chairman and

58:23councilwoman? Yes. So the process

58:25started with an RFP for an energy

58:28efficiency analysis. We identified that

58:31we wanted to to try this with police

58:34districts. So we put out an RFP for um

58:38consulting services related to that

58:39energy efficiency analysis which um was

58:44the the large report that was you know

58:47provided to the city council. um that

58:50that rolled into um so Leopardo was the

58:54um the the selected vendor for that and

58:57then that rolled into the uh

59:00construction contract after um much um

59:05sort of uh it it was a new process for

59:09us to do this. So there was a lot of

59:10deliberation both internally with

59:13finance department and law department as

59:16well as with um city council members and

59:19all the policy analysts at city council.

59:21So I would say it was a pretty lengthy

59:23process for folks to get comfortable

59:25with the idea but it all started with

59:27the RFP that Leopardo was the responder

59:30to.

59:31>> Thank you. and through the chair, will

59:33there be a similar process for the fire

59:36station upgrades or will there be a a

59:40separate, you know, RFP um issued for

59:43that?

59:44>> Um through the chairman, the the council

59:46woman. So, yes, we did we did issue the

59:49RFP for the um energy efficiency

59:52analysis of the fire stations. Um and so

59:55that um ORC product was just uh and

59:59Leopardo was the um selected vendor. We

1:00:02had uh many vendors that applied. We

1:00:05interviewed I think three or four teams

1:00:08and at the end of the day I have to say

1:00:10that um this team was um well above the

1:00:15other um respondents. Um which is kind

1:00:19of nice because we have a comfort level

1:00:20with them but it was definitely not um

1:00:23intended to work out that way if you

1:00:25will. Um but they did get selected for

1:00:28the police uh or for the fire um energy

1:00:30efficiency contract. Um, we did get

1:00:33their work product about two weeks ago.

1:00:36We're analyzing that work and then it'll

1:00:38be distributed to uh council policy

1:00:41analysts and and whatnot.

1:00:43>> Thank you. And through the chair, so

1:00:44it's it's Leopardo efficiency, am I

1:00:47correct in the in the name of your

1:00:49organization? And um so through the

1:00:52chair is it um accurate to say that you

1:00:55you know are a um troubleshooter that

1:00:57you go into existing um businesses or

1:01:01buildings and you know figure out what's

1:01:03wrong and how things could be done in a

1:01:05more efficient manner

1:01:08through the chair. I think that what we

1:01:10do with Leapardo is really take

1:01:12advantage of the legislation. it was put

1:01:14in place for communities to take

1:01:16advantage of a program to renovate

1:01:19existing facilities when there's not

1:01:21capital available to do so. So, what I

1:01:23think Leopardo does is really find

1:01:26strategic, creative ways to drive

1:01:28savings and invest them back in the

1:01:30community.

1:01:31>> Okay. Thank you. And could you would you

1:01:33mind bringing back up the slide that had

1:01:35all the colors on it with all the

1:01:36various contracts

1:01:39>> and and through the chairman of the

1:01:40council woman. So when she referenced

1:01:42legislation, it's state legislation.

1:01:44Many states have this, but each state is

1:01:46a little bit different. So we follow the

1:01:48Ohio Revised Code.

1:01:50>> And I I just want to say, you know, the

1:01:51the procurement process, I'm super

1:01:54impressed with how quickly you're able

1:01:55to get this done. Um you know, I've just

1:01:59a side note, it can take I know

1:02:01personally it's taken me two to three

1:02:03months just to get a a stove at a fire

1:02:05station. So, you know, the fact that you

1:02:07were able to do all of this in um you

1:02:10know, 10 months under budget, super

1:02:13impressive. Um

1:02:16and

1:02:20so will this

1:02:23type of and I know Councilman Shaw asked

1:02:25this. Um, will this um way of moving

1:02:30through procurement be looked at for

1:02:34other city departments?

1:02:37>> Um, through the chairman of the council.

1:02:39So, so what I I'm trying to think of how

1:02:42to rephrase this. If if the city goes

1:02:44through our whole system and makes um ad

1:02:49improvements um such as what was done

1:02:52with the fire st or with the police

1:02:54stations, it removes our ability to have

1:02:58these types of energy efficiency savings

1:03:01contracts for other types of facilities.

1:03:04So I would suggest to council and again

1:03:06this is just my personal opinion but if

1:03:09we leave some of the some of the

1:03:12improvements on the table it allows us

1:03:14to come back to council with um a

1:03:18suggested path forward for a type of

1:03:20buildings. So that could be um uh you

1:03:23know the the garages where our utilities

1:03:25workers work. It could be recreation

1:03:28centers. It could be fire stations. Um,

1:03:31so I would suggest that we we're smart

1:03:34about how we roll out all these savings

1:03:36because like I said, if it it it's not

1:03:38looked at, this type of program is not

1:03:41looked at. It's kind of like an

1:03:42offbalance sheet debt um that the city

1:03:45takes on. It is debt, but this savings

1:03:48stream um allows it to be paid off by

1:03:51the finance department and it doesn't go

1:03:53against our debt ratio as capital bonds

1:03:56do.

1:03:57>> Okay. Thank you. And through the chair,

1:03:58how long will it take for these savings

1:04:00to pay off that debt?

1:04:04>> Through the chair. So, the the finance

1:04:06department um I believe they did a

1:04:0820-year um lease financing. Um as the

1:04:12director had mentioned, um the the

1:04:14legislation specifically allows for that

1:04:16type of financing. And it doesn't count

1:04:18against your bonding capacity. Just as

1:04:20if you have a geo bond, you're basically

1:04:22pledging tax revenue as a repayment

1:04:24source. through this mechanism, we're

1:04:26pledging this savings which are

1:04:27guaranteed by Leopardo. So, it is a a

1:04:29different uh unique financing tool that

1:04:32I I think the city of Cleveland really

1:04:34took advantage of very well. Um very

1:04:36impressed with the work that we've done

1:04:38and as you can see on this chart here,

1:04:39you know, in my my past life, I I also

1:04:41served on uh the board of public uh

1:04:44safety where we we issued these types of

1:04:46contracts. And normally when you do a

1:04:48construction project of $21 million, you

1:04:50can expect several change orders. um

1:04:52here because it's guaranteed cost. The

1:04:54only change orders we had was because we

1:04:56came in under budget and so there's more

1:04:58work that could get done. So this

1:04:59program allows you to have all these

1:05:01trades in a short period of time.

1:05:03>> Okay. Thank you. And then a final

1:05:06question. The slide that Councilman Kazy

1:05:08asked you to pull back up, the one with

1:05:09the tires and the fuel savings.

1:05:12>> Um the through the chair do um these

1:05:16this is normally done through motor

1:05:18vehicle maintenance MVM.

1:05:21This might be a question

1:05:21>> through the chair. So, what we've done

1:05:23is evaluated um good targets that we've

1:05:26you've seen in the past that can be um

1:05:29you know ending contracts or with the

1:05:31city's input areas where they find that

1:05:34they need more competition um or they

1:05:37have a vendor that's not performing the

1:05:38way that they'd like. Um, so we identify

1:05:40these these targets and then we work

1:05:42with the specific department who's

1:05:44impacted by that purchase to ensure if

1:05:47we're doing an RFQ or an RFP that

1:05:49they're part of that process of drafting

1:05:50it. Um, a lot of these are are

1:05:52evaluating different consortiums. Um, so

1:05:54whether we're optimizing the right

1:05:56consortium at the right time, but all of

1:05:58these uh decisions are made with the

1:06:00city hand in hand.

1:06:02>> Okay. So I just wanted to be clear,

1:06:04maybe this is a question for the for the

1:06:06director.

1:06:08Do all um including safety departments

1:06:10do all vehicles go through MVM? Um

1:06:14>> through the chair that's correct. Yeah.

1:06:15All vehicles through the city police

1:06:17through MVM.

1:06:18>> Okay. And so this slide then are you

1:06:20exclusively looking at police vehicles

1:06:23that are going through MVM?

1:06:27>> Okay. And then through the chair. Yes.

1:06:30Why not just look at all vehicles that

1:06:32are going through MVM to identify these

1:06:34savings um across the board citywide

1:06:38>> through the chair? So this one in

1:06:39particular is a vehicle rental. But for

1:06:41instance with the telecom savings which

1:06:43are secure they under contract with the

1:06:45new vendor now. You know we knew that

1:06:47when we were going to evaluate that

1:06:48solution we weren't going to just change

1:06:50the lines for police and leave the rest

1:06:52of the city spending a lot more money.

1:06:55Right? So we knew that there was going

1:06:56to be kind of an overflow. what the

1:06:58actual contract um guarantee is is that

1:07:01that our our program savings cover the

1:07:03debt service payment of the financing

1:07:06and then we worked with legal um to

1:07:08allow for in the contract any additional

1:07:10savings that might be generated through

1:07:12this program could be uh allocated to a

1:07:14program like this in the future. So I

1:07:16believe that's where the director was

1:07:17discussing you know opportunities for

1:07:19for utilizing those savings going

1:07:21forward.

1:07:22>> Okay. So, this could be expanded to um

1:07:26other city vehicles at NVM. Okay. Thank

1:07:29you.

1:07:30>> That's all.

1:07:31>> All right. Thank you, council lady. Um

1:07:33just [clears throat] just for your the

1:07:36context, uh Councilwoman, um we've had

1:07:39about five or six hearings on this. Uh

1:07:41and this is the first time the city has

1:07:43done this. So, this is very new to all

1:07:45of us. Um, so we are still going through

1:07:47and seeing how Leopardo can help the

1:07:50city be more effective with our

1:07:51operation. Councilman Jones.

1:07:58>> Councilman Jones.

1:07:59>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I had to get my

1:08:01phone together as you know. It was

1:08:03ringing. So, thank you. Appreciate you,

1:08:07Mr. Chairman. I think my colleague Nikki

1:08:09Hudson hit a couple of good points and

1:08:12um I I I want to start off where she

1:08:15actually kind of left and where some

1:08:16others left. Um in terms of uh first I

1:08:20want to start with the the local

1:08:22contractors. Do we have a list of who

1:08:24those people are?

1:08:27>> Uh through the chairman of the

1:08:28councilman. We could provide you with

1:08:30that for sure.

1:08:31>> Okay. And in in that presentation,

1:08:36um, you talked about, and I would

1:08:38presume that would be, uh, the HVAC

1:08:41systems that were installed. So, most of

1:08:44those HVAC systems that were installed.

1:08:46You're saying all of those in all five

1:08:49districts are brand new.

1:08:54So, that uh, we we put new systems in

1:08:57one, four, and five. Uh, MOAP did

1:09:00district two or most of district two the

1:09:02year before that. So, that system is is

1:09:05pretty new. We are doing some small

1:09:06modifications there.

1:09:08>> Would that also be for like the boiler

1:09:11systems too? Are they all new as well?

1:09:13>> So, one, four, and five have have brand

1:09:15new boilers, uh, air handling units, um,

1:09:19exhaust fans, everything.

1:09:21>> Okay. And then there was um

1:09:26in the presentation you first of all let

1:09:28me just say this I'm like my colleague

1:09:31here I'm impressed with um uh the

1:09:35choosing of um this organization and um

1:09:39you know nothing makes me smile more

1:09:41than to know that um we get some cost

1:09:44savings here and some benefits out of

1:09:46this. Um, I I saw on the top of the

1:09:51roofs you had uh solar.

1:09:55Can you tell me about how that was

1:09:57installed? Because I did see the bricks

1:09:59on top of it on top of it as if it was

1:10:02holding it down. Was that the case?

1:10:05>> Yes. So, the the solar was installed per

1:10:09um industry standard. Uh they do use uh

1:10:12bricks to hold down um the the arrays

1:10:17because you don't want to secure under

1:10:18the existing roof. Uh all the existing

1:10:20roofs have a warranty and how they were

1:10:23um put down onto the roofs follows that

1:10:27warranty. So we're not we're not voiding

1:10:29any warranties by putting those on

1:10:31there.

1:10:31>> So you couldn't you couldn't have bolted

1:10:33it down. It had to be one of those type

1:10:35of situations where you had to put the

1:10:36brick on there.

1:10:38>> Correct. cuz uh if you would were to

1:10:40bolt it down, you'd be penetrating the

1:10:41existing roof and that would actually

1:10:42cause some problem with the roof.

1:10:44>> I see. Yeah.

1:10:45>> And then with the the boiler systems, I

1:10:48saw the before and after photos. Did you

1:10:50guys move the best out of these

1:10:53facilities or did you just wrap them and

1:10:56use the existing piping within the

1:10:58boiler systems that you put in or

1:11:00installed

1:11:01>> there? Uh so the boilers themselves that

1:11:03we removed had as best in them and we

1:11:05filed proper protocol to remove that.

1:11:07Oh, so you removed all the asbestous out

1:11:09of the building.

1:11:09>> Yeah, there is no more asbestous in the

1:11:11and there was very the only asbestous

1:11:13that was in the the system was on the

1:11:17boiler proper and those were all removed

1:11:20and disposed of

1:11:21>> and all the piping was

1:11:23>> piping is not has no asbestous.

1:11:24>> Okay. Was the piping removed too?

1:11:27>> Um not all of the piping but none of it

1:11:30has asbestous.

1:11:31>> Okay. But you did wrap the piping out.

1:11:33>> Yeah, we insulated it.

1:11:34>> Okay. And then um if we could go to um

1:11:40um the procurement process because I was

1:11:42interested and intrigued on how that

1:11:44whole process works too. Um

1:11:47now all of these these five facilities

1:11:50that you that you went under

1:11:53construction, how long did that take to

1:11:55do, Mr. Chairman? Um to Mrs. Heather

1:11:58Gray.

1:12:02>> There we go. They're the chair. Um, so

1:12:04the construction process is a 10-month

1:12:06uh window. So we'll be wrapping

1:12:07construction in October.

1:12:10>> So you did all five in 10 months.

1:12:12>> Yeah.

1:12:13>> Well, I think we have a record here. Um,

1:12:17so uh, Mr. Chairman, um, I'm impressed.

1:12:21Um, with 35 contractors, do we have any

1:12:24more than those 35 contractors, Mr.

1:12:26Chairman, to have the great we um,

1:12:29utilized here within your company?

1:12:32>> To the chair. I'm going to defer to Eric

1:12:33on that one. [laughter]

1:12:35>> Could you repeat that? I'm sorry.

1:12:36>> You you you located here in the

1:12:39presentation that you utilize 35

1:12:42contractors. My colleague, Mr. Casey,

1:12:44asked questions about if they were union

1:12:46or not, and you said they were all

1:12:48union. I wanted to get a list of those

1:12:5135 contractors, but the question that

1:12:53I'm asking is, did we use any other

1:12:55vendors or contractors outside of that?

1:12:58That's not

1:12:59>> the only the only subcontractors we use

1:13:01are union contractors and that that was

1:13:03the quantity.

1:13:04>> So you didn't have your own subset that

1:13:06you were working out of or working with?

1:13:07>> No.

1:13:08>> I see. And then Mr. Mr. Chairman, if you

1:13:10could just and I know some of this was

1:13:12discussed earlier about

1:13:18um pulling data and information and

1:13:20analyzing things um in terms of cost

1:13:23savings and transparency and

1:13:26transparency in terms of spending. Can

1:13:28you tell us a little bit about how that

1:13:30process is going to work? Because of one

1:13:33of our colleagues, uh Mrs. Hudson stated

1:13:36that why aren't we looking at all of our

1:13:38trucks and vehicles if we can um save uh

1:13:41and you have I guess what this would be

1:13:43considered uh dana data analytics is

1:13:46that what you're working with data

1:13:47analytics

1:13:49>> through the chair so part of the process

1:13:51is really visibility um your your ERP

1:13:54systems for municipalities are meant to

1:13:57essentially budget and report and audits

1:14:00right what they don't do a very good job

1:14:02of is giving you that visibility to your

1:14:04spend

1:14:05So, we've um invested in technology,

1:14:08created technology that's specific for

1:14:10municipalities to evaluate where you're

1:14:12spending your money and how we can help

1:14:14you do that more strategically. Um so,

1:14:16that's an ongoing process and certainly

1:14:18we can open it up.

1:14:20>> I would love to to engage you more on

1:14:22that area, you know, offline, off table,

1:14:25because I'm very interested on how you

1:14:26set those systems up. And then, um one

1:14:29of the the next question, Mr. chairman

1:14:32um is can you show us

1:14:36how we're actually saving? How do how do

1:14:39we how do we quantify how do we measure

1:14:44uh what we're actually saving because it

1:14:46it sounds great but I can't visualize

1:14:50it. So how can you help me to understand

1:14:53that? um because you talked a little bit

1:14:55more about the fiber optic systems and

1:14:57how you had to change it out and where

1:14:59you can find savies there. Um you also

1:15:02showed us the procurement process and in

1:15:04terms of the timeline which was was

1:15:06efficient and effective. So I I was

1:15:08impressed by the way you put your

1:15:10systems in in play uh there. Miss

1:15:12Heather Gray, how how do how can you

1:15:15show us and I know that this

1:15:17presentation as before us doesn't show

1:15:19us that. Um how can you show us that

1:15:22savings? Um I I don't know how you you

1:15:25pull it

1:15:26>> through the chair. So part of this

1:15:27process, so we're still in construction,

1:15:29right? Once construction wraps, we will

1:15:31have a measurement and verification

1:15:32manual that will um outline all of the

1:15:35savings that were part of the contract.

1:15:37So everything that was in that energy

1:15:38conservation report that was given to

1:15:40the council last year about this time,

1:15:42we'll go back and measure them.

1:15:43Everything has a baseline. So we've

1:15:45established where that baseline cost is.

1:15:47So for instance, with the telecom

1:15:48solution, we got your actual invoice

1:15:51data. We know what lines there were and

1:15:52when we switched over to this new

1:15:54provider and this new solution, we now

1:15:56know what that contracted price is going

1:15:57to be. So, it's a matter of what were

1:15:58you paying before versus what you're

1:16:00paying now and that's the savings.

1:16:02>> Okay. And so, Mr. Chairman, um to Mr. D.

1:16:06Rosa, um when will you be able to give

1:16:09us that breakdown and show us that?

1:16:14>> Through the chair, I'm going to defer to

1:16:16Drake on that. He's our measurement and

1:16:17verification um guy down there. So when

1:16:20construction is completed, we first

1:16:22produce a workbook that states how we're

1:16:25going to measure the savings. And we'll

1:16:27go through each of the savings streams

1:16:28that we identified and we'll show you

1:16:30this is where your baselines are. And a

1:16:33year after construction's completed, we

1:16:35come back and show you another M&V

1:16:39report that shows here's all the savings

1:16:42we identified. And we'll actually show

1:16:43you how we identified those savings. And

1:16:45in a lot of cases, particularly what

1:16:47we're looking at with telephones, it's

1:16:49just looking at all of the invoices and

1:16:51showing you the roll up of all the

1:16:52invoices and and proving through invoice

1:16:55images and documents how the savings are

1:16:58met.

1:17:00>> So, and we will you're saying we'll come

1:17:02back here a year from now and you'll

1:17:04show us the savings on these five

1:17:05districts.

1:17:06>> Yes, that's correct. All right. And

1:17:08then, Mr. chairman moving forward in

1:17:10terms of the future. Now we we are

1:17:13talking about using uh Mr. chairman um

1:17:16to the director uh this same group to

1:17:19deal with the fire departments too.

1:17:22>> Uh through the chairman the councilman.

1:17:24We are and we will have uh separate uh

1:17:28discussions and legislation to come

1:17:31before council. But yes, we are looking

1:17:33to um uh use the same team similar

1:17:38approach for all of the fire stations

1:17:42all at the same time. And then lastly,

1:17:44Mr. Chairman, I'd love to to take a look

1:17:46at the fourth district to go through the

1:17:48fourth district to see what work has

1:17:50been done on it. Um, and then also I

1:17:53would suggest to the administration, one

1:17:55of the things that's really important uh

1:17:58is our front end. You know, we're how we

1:18:00meet our customer and our customers uh

1:18:04Mr. chairman to the director uh is our

1:18:07constituents.

1:18:09And um back in

1:18:131999,

1:18:15myself and Odilia Robinson invested

1:18:18resources to go into the fourth district

1:18:21to brighten it up and change the lobby

1:18:24area. It has been 30ome years now since

1:18:28we have not brightened that area up. And

1:18:31Mr. Chairman, I would ask and suggest to

1:18:34the administration that you move in the

1:18:37direction of fixing that um entryway to

1:18:40our our constituency base. And then

1:18:44lastly, I just want to say great job uh

1:18:46to the administration, to Mr. D. Rosa

1:18:49and the Leardo team.

1:18:51>> Thank you, Councilman Jones.

1:18:53>> Thank you, Councilman Jones. Councilman

1:18:54Gray.

1:18:55>> Thank you. Thank you, Chair. I just want

1:18:57to say first thing I want to say um

1:18:59excellent job

1:19:02titanously fixing up you know um

1:19:06repairing all five stations at one time

1:19:08in 10 months. I remember when you chair

1:19:11to the team I remember when you came to

1:19:13the table 10 months ago. This is this is

1:19:17um superb.

1:19:19Believe me, I've been in uh in the

1:19:21neighborhood for a long time and I've

1:19:23been I seen some of these stations over

1:19:26time.

1:19:28Did excellent job from what I

1:19:31remembered. So, uh kudos to that. Um

1:19:36>> so I want to go back to chair to the

1:19:39team. Could you take me back to the

1:19:40energy savings

1:19:44that I was this is not my expertise but

1:19:47I very impressed

1:19:50with um the pictures of of how um you um

1:19:59renovated the old to the new. So could

1:20:03you uh explain a little bit more about

1:20:05the energy savings uh pertaining to the

1:20:09projectile?

1:20:12So the energy savings that we identified

1:20:14through all the buildings were just

1:20:17coming from old inefficient systems and

1:20:21converting them to new systems. So, old

1:20:23inefficient boilers, old systems that

1:20:26were um

1:20:29bringing in too much outside air,

1:20:31inefficient cooling, uh old fluorescent

1:20:35lights that um you can hear the buzzing,

1:20:38those converting to LED,

1:20:41um yield significant energy savings

1:20:43along with the solar arrays that we put

1:20:46on the rooftops of the buildings. So,

1:20:48that's a comprehensive number that 1.2 2

1:20:51million across all five districts and

1:20:53that's what we're projected to save

1:20:55annually.

1:20:56>> That's excellent. And cheer to the team.

1:20:59Um you did a lot of winterization also

1:21:02in the building pertaining to the um

1:21:05energy savings.

1:21:06>> I'm sorry I couldn't hear your question.

1:21:08>> You know the winterization, you know,

1:21:09the installation of the buildings, you

1:21:11know, did you take care of that, too?

1:21:13>> Yeah. So, a lot of the scope involved,

1:21:16replacement of windows, uh doors, garage

1:21:19doors, um a lot of tuck pointing, um

1:21:23would would certainly helps uh

1:21:25contribute to sealing sealing up the

1:21:27building and much less infiltration and

1:21:30much better comfort into the building

1:21:33areas.

1:21:33>> Yes, I mean that's very important

1:21:36sitting in a room that's cold.

1:21:39[clears throat]

1:21:40Not saying that because the air

1:21:41conditioning here I'm freezing but but

1:21:44to say the least say the least you don't

1:21:47want to you know you don't want to

1:21:49renovate a building and you still

1:21:50walking in the lobby and you sitting up

1:21:52there freezing in the winter time and

1:21:54too hot in the summertime to the team.

1:21:57So, I just want to just uh just uh uh

1:22:00say that. But uh I'm just very impressed

1:22:03with the whole um scope of the um the

1:22:06work that has been done on all five

1:22:09buildings in 10 months. We have to uh be

1:22:11appreciative of that. Uh know that had

1:22:14to been a really long tough uh work for

1:22:17all the workers who who put their 100%

1:22:20in in 10 months. So uh so I'm very

1:22:23impressed with that. But one more last

1:22:25question to your to the team right here

1:22:28with the smartphones charge. Uh could

1:22:31you explain a little bit more on that?

1:22:34>> So that's just kind of like a fun metric

1:22:36that we like to we like to show. Um, if

1:22:39you go to the the EPA website, they have

1:22:42uh this uh conversion chart that'll show

1:22:44you if you saved so much KWH or so much

1:22:48uh uh natural gas in a building, what

1:22:50would that be equivalent to? U of CO2

1:22:53reduction or or cars removed from the

1:22:56road or or smartphones charge. So, it's

1:22:58just simply just a energy metric that

1:23:01>> an energy metric

1:23:01>> based on the savings.

1:23:03>> Okay. All right. Thank you. And one last

1:23:05question, chair. I'll you you know will

1:23:08you be scheduling the tours or will Moal

1:23:12be uh scheduling the tours because

1:23:15otherwise I just go to fourth district

1:23:17cuz I live right in the neighborhood

1:23:19>> uh through the chairman of the

1:23:20councilman if if we could work together

1:23:22on who would like a tour and if it would

1:23:24be specific uh districts or or multiple

1:23:27and then we'll work with the commanders

1:23:29and get something set.

1:23:30>> All right, we'll do.

1:23:31>> All right. Thank you, chair.

1:23:33>> All right. Thank All right. Thank you uh

1:23:35to Leia Partardo. We uh really

1:23:37appreciate you coming and give us an

1:23:38insight about uh how much uh work have

1:23:41you done with the city uh in such an

1:23:43efficient uh manner. Thank you very

1:23:45much.

1:23:47>> Thank you, Chair.

1:23:48>> Thank you.

1:23:48>> Okay.

1:23:50>> All right, director. I think I'mma hold

1:23:52you here.

1:23:59>> Sewer district, right? This next one.

1:24:00Yeah. Uh can uh sew district come up

1:24:03please?

1:24:34district.

1:24:35>> Welcome, welcome, welcome.

1:24:39All right. Um, this is ordinance number

1:24:42688206

1:24:44by council members KZ, Hudson, Bishop,

1:24:47Griffin. This is a departmental request.

1:24:50Okay. This is ordinance number 6882026

1:24:54as amended. an emergency ordinance

1:24:56authorizing the director of parks and

1:24:58recrecks to execute various deeds of

1:25:00easements granting to the northeast Ohio

1:25:02Regional Sewer District certain easement

1:25:05rights at or under several city-owned

1:25:08properties at Emery Park, Estherbrook

1:25:11Park for the Northeast Ohio Sewer

1:25:14District District's Big Creek Storage

1:25:17Tunnel project and declaring the

1:25:19easements rights not intended for the

1:25:22city's public use. Okay. Um,

1:25:27there is no legal objection to this leg

1:25:29legislation if amended as follows.

1:25:31Number one, in the title at the end,

1:25:34strike the period and insert and to

1:25:37enter into an agreement with the

1:25:40Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District

1:25:42to accept the gift the gift of cash for

1:25:45the park improvements. Number two,

1:25:48insert new section 7 and 8 to read as

1:25:52follows. Section 7 that the director of

1:25:56parks and recreck is authorized to

1:26:00allocate 220,400

1:26:04of the sale of proceeds of the

1:26:07nonexclusive easement interest

1:26:09authorized in section one of this

1:26:13ordinance to finance park improvements

1:26:15at Emery Park and 56,400

1:26:19of the sale of proceeds to finance park

1:26:21improvements at Esesterbrook park and

1:26:24that the funds are appropriated solely

1:26:26for this purpose for these purposes.

1:26:30[clears throat] Excuse me. In section 8,

1:26:34that the director of parks and wreck is

1:26:36authorized to enter into an agreement

1:26:37with an NEOD

1:26:40to ex to [clears throat] accept the gift

1:26:42of cash in the amount of 450,000

1:26:46to finance park improvements at Emery

1:26:48Park. that the director is authorized to

1:26:51file all papers and execute all

1:26:54documents necessary to receive the funds

1:26:58and that the funds are appropriate for

1:27:00these purposes.

1:27:02And then number three, reumber existing

1:27:06section 7 to new section 9.

1:27:11All right. Uh director, you want to kick

1:27:13us off?

1:27:14>> Uh yes, sir. So,

1:27:16um, so this ordinance relates to the

1:27:19sewer district's project called the Big

1:27:21Creek Storage Tunnel. And, uh, before

1:27:24we, uh, kick it over to Comm

1:27:27Commissioner D Janeiro, if we could go

1:27:29down the line and introduce our friends

1:27:30from, uh, the sewer district.

1:27:37>> Oh, good afternoon. My name is uh,

1:27:39Charles Hughes. I am manager of design

1:27:41at the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer

1:27:42District.

1:27:47And good morning. I am Angela Jones. I'm

1:27:49senior manager of government affairs at

1:27:52Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.

1:27:56>> Okay. Thank you. Um so this project

1:28:00known as the Big Creek Storage Tunnel is

1:28:02the seventh of seven combined sewer

1:28:05overflow or cso storage tunnel projects

1:28:09which are part of the sewer district's

1:28:11project clean lake. a $3 billion 24-year

1:28:15program aimed at significantly reducing

1:28:17CSOS released into Lake Erie and other

1:28:20waterways in the greater Cleveland area.

1:28:23The Big Creek Tunnel is over 4 miles of

1:28:2620 foot diameter tunnel built in rock 50

1:28:29to 100 ft below the surface under

1:28:32Cleveland and the villages of Brooklyn

1:28:35and Lindale. Uh the tunnel will capture

1:28:38and store combined sanitary and storm

1:28:41water from 11 combined sewer outfalls

1:28:43and upon completion cso volume discharge

1:28:47to big big creek and its tributaries

1:28:49will be reduced by 550 million gallons

1:28:53per year. The sewer district requires

1:28:56access for construction and future

1:28:58maintenance of the project and is

1:29:00seeking three permanent surface

1:29:02easements, four tempor uh four

1:29:05subterranean easements and three

1:29:08temporary easements from the city at

1:29:10Emory and Esbrook parks. Um just give

1:29:14you an overview of what is happening at

1:29:16each park. At Emory Park, the tunnel is

1:29:18being constructed at the north end of

1:29:20the park, 70 feet below the surface, and

1:29:23park operations won't be affected other

1:29:26than contractor occupations,

1:29:28uh, occupation of portions of the park

1:29:30green space. The contractor will provide

1:29:33acoustical fencing around the work area

1:29:35to reduce impact on park users and

1:29:38residents.

1:29:39Um, I I want to note that future

1:29:42permanent easements will be needed at

1:29:44Emory Park for a future CSO project

1:29:46known as the BCSO3.

1:29:49Um, and this project will begin

1:29:51immediately after the Big Creek Tunnel

1:29:53is constructed. It's anticipated to

1:29:55start in 2029 and be complete by 2031,

1:29:59at which time the sewer district will

1:30:01coordinate with parks and wreck on

1:30:04restoration of Emery Park. Um at

1:30:06Esesterbrook Park, the sewer district

1:30:08will construct a tunnel shaft at the

1:30:10northwest corner of the park, 50 feet

1:30:12below ground. Park operations will not

1:30:15be affected other than a temporary

1:30:17relocation of the path uh to the

1:30:20playground in ball field. And similar to

1:30:22at Emory, the contractor will screen the

1:30:25project uh area with acoustical fencing

1:30:28and coordinate site restoration at the

1:30:30conclusion of the project with parks and

1:30:32wreck. The value of the easements at

1:30:34Emory Park is $220,400

1:30:38and the sewer district has agreed to

1:30:40increase its site restoration budget to

1:30:43four um by $450,000

1:30:46which totals $670,400

1:30:50to cover uh the city's cost to um

1:30:53install future improvements at the park.

1:30:55and those funds will be um deposited

1:30:58into a new newly created fund to be used

1:31:01solely for this purpose. The value of

1:31:03the easements at Esesterbrook Park is

1:31:06$56,400

1:31:08and um similarly those funds will be

1:31:12deposited into a an account to be used

1:31:14solely for restoration at Esther Brook

1:31:16Park.

1:31:20So, uh, with that, I'd like to, um, open

1:31:22it up to questions, and we have the

1:31:24district here to speak to the specifics

1:31:26of the tunnel project as needed.

1:31:28>> Okay. Um,

1:31:30so this, uh, this project is in is going

1:31:33to encompass uh, Councilwoman Hudson's

1:31:36ward and Councilman uh, Kazy's ward. Is

1:31:39there any comments from you, Councilman

1:31:41Kazy?

1:31:43>> I'll I'll defer to Councilman or

1:31:45Councilwoman Hudson first. All right,

1:31:47Councilwoman Hus.

1:31:51>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I've met with

1:31:53the sewer district and um I I appreciate

1:31:58the need for this project and the the

1:32:00impact at Esther Brook Recreation Center

1:32:02and the park next door is um not as

1:32:06significant as the impact on Emery Park.

1:32:10>> Okay. All right. So the um purpose of

1:32:13this project so we won't have waste

1:32:15water going into our lakes. Is that is

1:32:17that what I'm hearing? And how will that

1:32:19work? Can you explain that to us? How

1:32:21how will that how will this making this

1:32:23tunnel how will that prevent waste water

1:32:26from going into our freshwater?

1:32:29>> Yes. So the big creek storage tunnel is

1:32:32going to be built to capture combined

1:32:34sewer overflows to several uh outfalls

1:32:37along the Big Creek watershed. So

1:32:40essentially during large storm events,

1:32:42the flow that otherwise would have gone

1:32:44out to the environment will be directed

1:32:47down into the tunnel where it can be

1:32:49stored until after rain events where

1:32:51then that flow can be sent to our

1:32:54southernly treatment plant for treatment

1:32:56and then safe release to the

1:32:57environment.

1:32:58>> Okay. All right. All right. I'm going to

1:33:00go to Councilman Casey.

1:33:01>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um Mr. chairman

1:33:04to to our friends over at NOSD and uh

1:33:07the two directors.

1:33:09I'm not going to hold this project up

1:33:11today, but we still do have things that

1:33:13we need to work out um in regards to

1:33:17pole placement uh and the restoration of

1:33:20the park uh that I hope we can get um

1:33:25settled prior to uh this coming to

1:33:28utilities which which is the next mark.

1:33:31This is a project that's going to be

1:33:33placing 27 new poles uh along West 130th

1:33:39Street uh in an area less than a mile

1:33:42long where we've already got 25 poles.

1:33:45Uh and I'm working with the sewer

1:33:46district and and Director Daneiro and

1:33:50Director D. Rosa uh to hopefully um

1:33:54settle this somehow some way um prior to

1:33:59it being heard in utilities a week from

1:34:01this Thursday. Uh so I won't hold it up

1:34:03in municipal properties and services,

1:34:05but if we do not have the poll situation

1:34:09rectified uh by then, then we won't be

1:34:12hearing it in utilities until uh we're

1:34:15satisfied that that this issue will um

1:34:18not be an ongoing issue uh and that any

1:34:21pole that's going to be placed uh is

1:34:24taken out when the project is done. Um

1:34:29and that moving forward, you know, we

1:34:32have a pole issue in this city anyways.

1:34:34And it's projects like this that, you

1:34:37know, end up making us pole city USA

1:34:40when, you know,

1:34:42we've had these discussions, Mr.

1:34:44Chairman, to to to director D Janeiro,

1:34:47where, you know, nobody wants to take

1:34:49responsibility when a poll needs to come

1:34:52out, right? Uh, and I want to make sure

1:34:54that any pull that goes in is going to

1:34:56eventually find its way out uh, of the

1:34:59neighborhood and, you know, prior to

1:35:02this this starting. But I will not hear

1:35:04it in utilities if we do not have this

1:35:07this

1:35:09issue resolved um, by next Thursday just

1:35:13and I don't think that comes as a

1:35:14surprise to anybody on that side of the

1:35:16table. But uh, I also

1:35:19don't care that it's a $3 billion

1:35:21project either, right? and I want to

1:35:23make sure that anything that anybody

1:35:25agrees upon will be a part of the

1:35:27legislation uh moving forward. Thank

1:35:30you, Mr. Chairman. [clears throat]

1:35:32>> All right. Thank you, Councilman.

1:35:33Councilman, can you what's what's the

1:35:34purpose of the pose? The insert

1:35:35insertion of the new poles.

1:35:38>> Are they replacements or is it just new

1:35:40poles?

1:35:41>> No. So right right now you have your

1:35:43pole about 50 50 ft up but these poles

1:35:46have to be about 60 ft up because of the

1:35:48amount of electricity that has to power

1:35:52the boring equipment at Emory Park which

1:35:55by the way you know is going to be taken

1:35:57over for anywhere from four to seven

1:35:59years. So this is not like it's a

1:36:02project that's coming in being done and

1:36:04and leaving right it's going to affect

1:36:06our park for up to seven years. Uh so

1:36:09that's why I'm I'm keeping a very keen

1:36:12eye on this. But the amount of

1:36:13electricity which is the

1:36:1640

1:36:18>> 36 36

1:36:19>> 36 yeah the 36 KV

1:36:21>> which um

1:36:24have to be above your because it's so

1:36:26much electricity have to has to be above

1:36:28your average you know electric line.

1:36:32It's a lot of electricity that's going

1:36:34to be pouring into that park. Okay. Um,

1:36:36so that's that's the need for the

1:36:38additional.

1:36:39>> Okay. All right. Thank you, Council. All

1:36:40right. Is there any other questions on

1:36:42ordinance number six? Uh, Councilman

1:36:44Harsh.

1:36:45>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I, uh, through

1:36:48the chair to the team, uh, before awards

1:36:51got juggled around, I was paying more

1:36:53attention to Esther Brook, but now I'm

1:36:55paying more attention to SHAP BCT2. Um

1:36:58and uh through the chair to Miss Jones,

1:37:01I believe we are on the calendar for

1:37:03November 11th at Esesterbrook to have a

1:37:05community meeting to give these updates

1:37:08to the residents.

1:37:10I think we can confir I think we've

1:37:12confirmed that.

1:37:13>> Yes, we it has been confirmed.

1:37:16>> Okay. Um so through the chair, we will

1:37:17have on uh November 11th, the NEO RSD

1:37:20team will be at Estherbrook um at 6 PM.

1:37:23and that's a Wednesday to go over all of

1:37:25this with residents who want to

1:37:27understand more. Um,

1:37:29will the intersection at 38th or maybe

1:37:32it's 36th in Memphis, will that

1:37:34intersection remain open for the shaft?

1:37:36I believe it that shaft is being dug on

1:37:39an empty parcel. Um, so through the

1:37:41chair, will that will that result in any

1:37:43block uh street closures?

1:37:45>> Through the chair, Memphis will remain

1:37:46open at that intersection. Yes.

1:37:48>> Okay. Uh, that's all, Mr. Chairman.

1:37:50We're going to dive into this with the

1:37:51neighborhood in just a few weeks and uh

1:37:53thank you all for being here today. I

1:37:54certainly appreciate how important the

1:37:55project is.

1:37:56>> All right, Councilman H, this is this is

1:37:58going to affect your award also.

1:38:00>> Uh yeah, it cuts it cuts over to it

1:38:03starts off Council Hudson and then it

1:38:05kind of swings over.

1:38:06>> Okay. All right.

1:38:08>> Through the chair to the council person.

1:38:09I also want to make uh note that we are

1:38:11having

1:38:11>> he's talking to the mic, please.

1:38:14>> I'm a little short. I also want to make

1:38:16note that there is a community meeting

1:38:18with Councilman Kazy on um next Tuesday,

1:38:24October 6.

1:38:27>> All right. Um I'm going go to Councilman

1:38:29Jones.

1:38:32>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um

1:38:35looking at this, this is about four

1:38:38miles. Is that correct, Mr. Chairman? To

1:38:40the director?

1:38:42>> To the chair? Yes. It's a four mile long

1:38:44tunnel, 20 foot diameter.

1:38:46>> And will, Mr. determined to the

1:38:47director. How deep are we going? Is it

1:38:50is most of this is going to be up

1:38:51underground? Correct.

1:38:54>> Through the chair. Yes. The majority of

1:38:56this project is underground. Uh

1:38:58approximately 50 to 100 ft below ground.

1:39:01The surface impacts will be at our six

1:39:03separate shaft locations.

1:39:06>> Do you anticipate, Mr. Chairman, to the

1:39:08director, um impact any kind of shell

1:39:15>> through the chair? Yes. This is going to

1:39:16be constructed through shale hard rock.

1:39:19>> I see. Are you how is so do you presume

1:39:22that when you break that rock is going

1:39:24to be uh CO gas is released? Mr.

1:39:27Chairman to director

1:39:29>> did the chair we are classifying this

1:39:32tunnel as potentially gassy but our

1:39:34specifications do have requirements to

1:39:37procure uh you know safe working

1:39:38conditions

1:39:39>> and and Mr. Chairman to director do we

1:39:41have any plans because I know that we

1:39:42we've done this a number of times

1:39:44already. Do do we ever have any kind of

1:39:47thought about how to capture that and

1:39:48utilize that for potential energy

1:39:53>> through the chair? No, that has not been

1:39:54evaluated.

1:39:55>> Uh Mr. Chairman to director, I would

1:39:58suggest that you know we're going to be

1:39:59doing this project for what six maybe

1:40:01seven maybe eight years is

1:40:04>> through the chair. The project is

1:40:05approximately four years long.

1:40:06>> Four years. So Mr. Chairman, to

1:40:08director, is there any kind of way that

1:40:10we could potentially capture all this

1:40:12methane? I presume it's methane gas. Mr.

1:40:15Chairman, to the director,

1:40:16>> uh through the chair, I will say that is

1:40:18not a common practice in this type of

1:40:19tunneling. No.

1:40:20>> No. I see. So, but how do you how do you

1:40:23plan to release the gas? Do you capture

1:40:25or you just release it right into the

1:40:27air?

1:40:28>> Through the chair, the tunnel is

1:40:30properly vented and is released through

1:40:33our shaft sites.

1:40:34>> And and Mr. Chairman, is there any

1:40:36danger to the director of releasing such

1:40:39high levels of methane gas into the air?

1:40:42And how much methane gas, Mr. chairman,

1:40:44are we looking to release in the air and

1:40:47how would that potentially impact uh the

1:40:49quality of life of citizens who may not

1:40:51even be aware that the gas is being

1:40:53released

1:40:54>> through the chair? I'd have to go and uh

1:40:56talk to our design team how to quantify

1:40:59that, but that is not a concern of the

1:41:01project. We have no concerns about

1:41:03releasing gas that would impact uh

1:41:05residents health.

1:41:07>> And Mr. chairman. Um, you know, have we

1:41:10taken any uh in terms of safety? I'm

1:41:14quite sure you looked at all the safety

1:41:15protocols. Is there any potentials for

1:41:18there to be any potential explosions,

1:41:20Mr. Chairman, to the director? Any fires

1:41:23with doing this work

1:41:26>> through the chair? Our specifications

1:41:28require um, you know, gas proofing,

1:41:31fireproofing in the tunnel systems. That

1:41:34is not a concern. Of course, safety is

1:41:37our utmost concern and it'll be

1:41:38carefully monitored throughout

1:41:39construction. However,

1:41:41>> and then, Mr. Chairman, um lastly, um

1:41:44once this is all wrapped up, I I would

1:41:47presume gas will continue to leak from

1:41:49these locations.

1:41:54>> Through the chair, I'd have to follow up

1:41:56with you. However, that is not a concern

1:41:58of our system. It is a 20ft diameter

1:42:01tunnel. It's 4 miles long. any

1:42:03infiltration of gas into the system

1:42:05would be most likely, you know,

1:42:07environmental in nature and wouldn't be

1:42:09a concern to residents.

1:42:11>> And how do we we we continue to release

1:42:13it if it's how does that process work,

1:42:17Mr. Chairman, to the director?

1:42:22>> Through the chair, any gas that may come

1:42:24into the system would be through just

1:42:26natural processes and infiltration.

1:42:29However, as I've said, that is not a a

1:42:31concern to residents.

1:42:32>> And so, Mr. Chairman, finally, um, to

1:42:35the director, have we thought about when

1:42:38we dig deep down and we break the cross

1:42:40the shell that has been there for, god

1:42:43knows a billion years. um what that

1:42:46impact potentially

1:42:49short-term, long-term and continuing uh

1:42:52as relates to its release into our

1:42:54atmosphere and its impact

1:42:59>> through the chair. Could you repeat?

1:43:01>> I'm asking director Ro, Mr. Chairman,

1:43:04>> uh through the chairman of the

1:43:05councilman. So, um the city has not

1:43:08investigated uh the district's analysis,

1:43:12but we do know that um the district has

1:43:15uh done a complete environmental

1:43:17analysis and they've hired the experts

1:43:19to make the determination that it's not

1:43:21going to be a hazard for the residents,

1:43:23but I would be happy to take their

1:43:25analysis and provide it to um uh I'm not

1:43:29sure if it'd be the Department of

1:43:31Health, but we would be happy to review

1:43:32it review their analysis ourselves and

1:43:35And Mr. Chairman, and here's why this is

1:43:37so important, right? We don't know how

1:43:39many tons of of of uh gases that are

1:43:44going to be released. We don't know how

1:43:46many types of gases. Uh we have a air um

1:43:51pollution control uh person. Have they,

1:43:55Mr. Chairman, um been a part of this

1:43:58whole process?

1:44:00>> Um Mr. Chairman, the councilman, has who

1:44:02been a part of this process? the people

1:44:04who work for us that are supposed to be

1:44:06about um protecting our air quality, are

1:44:09they involved? Is the director of air

1:44:12quality for the city of Cleveland

1:44:13involved, Mr. Chairman, to Mr. D. Roza

1:44:16in this project?

1:44:16>> Through the chairman of the councilman,

1:44:18um they have not been involved from my

1:44:21aspect. I don't know if the district has

1:44:23shared their reports, but um as I'm

1:44:26stating, I'm happy to receive the

1:44:28reports that you have from your experts

1:44:30and I'm happy to provide that to air

1:44:32quality and provide a report back to

1:44:34city council.

1:44:35>> And the reason why I asked, Mr.

1:44:36Chairman, because often times stuff like

1:44:38this is overlooked at the table and the

1:44:41citizens are not aware of the impact and

1:44:45potential hazards and nor are we aware

1:44:48of what those hazards are. Um, I know

1:44:51that they did some tunneling in my

1:44:53neighborhood and it was so bad, Mr.

1:44:56Chairman, that they had all sorts of

1:44:58mishaps going on at that time and they

1:45:01didn't report them, Mr. Chairman, um, to

1:45:05um, this council and they didn't report

1:45:07them to anybody that I'm aware of. I

1:45:09just happen to, Mr. Chairman, know some

1:45:12of the folk who were working on those

1:45:13tunnels. So, the question is, Mr.

1:45:16chairman um is and this would be to our

1:45:19quality control people when we look at

1:45:22this because this is not something that

1:45:23is just indicative Mr. Chairman to the

1:45:26city of Cleveland um but it's all over

1:45:28what what is the impact to the citizens

1:45:31shortterm and long-term with with so

1:45:34much gas and then lastly Mr. chairman to

1:45:36the distinguished chairman. How much gas

1:45:38will we be releasing off into the public

1:45:40and into the air? Because you're going

1:45:42to have to put pipes down in the ground

1:45:44and you're gonna have to have that

1:45:45vented out into the air. How much um

1:45:49gas is that? And then what type of gas

1:45:51is it being released? And what is this

1:45:53potential impact? Because it's been

1:45:55stuck up under the ground for a billion

1:45:57billion years plus. And you're you're

1:45:59disturbing it by breaking the shell.

1:46:02through the chair. I'd have to follow up

1:46:03with a design team to quantify that gas

1:46:05and provide that to you.

1:46:07>> Mr. Chairman, I would suggest that if

1:46:08Miss Brookke should, you know, we should

1:46:11look into this, if we could have uh Mr.

1:46:14Chairman, our people, you know, and this

1:46:16is where we need to have like, which is

1:46:19important, council having um specialists

1:46:22that we hire on to help us understand

1:46:25these issues a little bit better because

1:46:27we just don't know. Uh, and this is a

1:46:30question that has been posed at the

1:46:32table and I'm not quite sure, Mr.

1:46:34Chairman, if this question has already

1:46:36been posed in previous past years. Um,

1:46:39but we don't have that and we can't

1:46:40quantify that and I would hope that, Mr.

1:46:43Chairman, we could quantify for the

1:46:45health and well-being of our citizens

1:46:48and certainly of our community as a

1:46:50whole. So, Mr. Chairman, can you look

1:46:52into this, Mr. Chairman, to the director

1:46:54and can our council look into it, Mr.

1:46:56chairman would with possibility of

1:46:58hiring someone on as um to us to to kind

1:47:02of figure out uh what what's what this

1:47:05is and what his potential impact can be

1:47:07ahead of time, not after the fact.

1:47:09>> Mr. Chairman, Councilman, happy to

1:47:11provide additional information and we do

1:47:13have two more committees that this piece

1:47:15will go through. So, um I would I would

1:47:18expect that by the time we're at finance

1:47:19committee that we should at least have

1:47:22the data. Um, I don't I I honestly don't

1:47:25know how long it will take to analyze

1:47:27the data, but I know that the district

1:47:28has experts already on board. So, we

1:47:31will attempt to fasttrack the analysis

1:47:34to see what we can bring back to the

1:47:36city council.

1:47:36>> And I appreciate that, Mr. chairman to

1:47:38director because we had so much gas

1:47:40coming out in our neighborhood it would

1:47:42choke me at times coming down McCracken

1:47:44Road when they had all the pipes up

1:47:46because they had to put the pipes up

1:47:48there because they didn't realize so

1:47:50much gas was going to be coming out as

1:47:52they were doing the tunneling and so um

1:47:55I would suggest Mr. Chairman that we

1:47:57kind of like get an idea on that gas Mr.

1:47:59chairman and them pipes was up there for

1:48:01a long time and um God knows how much uh

1:48:06gas was released. Is it more than just

1:48:08methane gas being released, Mr.

1:48:10Chairman?

1:48:11>> Uh through the chairman, the councilman,

1:48:13we'll provide you all that data.

1:48:14>> Does the gentleman know, Mr. Chairman,

1:48:16how what different types of gas is being

1:48:18released? Because he's the expert.

1:48:20>> Through the chair, methane gas is the

1:48:23primary gas to be released.

1:48:24>> What is it?

1:48:25>> Methane.

1:48:26>> Is that the only one? I can follow up

1:48:28with additional gases.

1:48:29>> Do you know of any other gases, Mr.

1:48:32Chairman? Come on now. You're smiling. I

1:48:33know you know something. Come on, tell

1:48:35me.

1:48:35>> I will follow up.

1:48:36>> All right. So, you don't know what other

1:48:38kind of gases are being released, Mr.

1:48:40Chairman to director, as you said before

1:48:41the committee.

1:48:44>> I will have to follow up with you.

1:48:46>> Okay.

1:48:47>> Thank you, Joe. Joe, I know this is a

1:48:50really concerning thing. I know what

1:48:52happened in your ward and um uh we

1:48:54really do need to ask these questions

1:48:56before this thing because this is a

1:48:58heavily populated uh community. Um so I

1:49:01I I I know the seriousness of this. Uh

1:49:04so I appreciate you all the question and

1:49:06Joe to enlighten us about how serious

1:49:08this really is.

1:49:09>> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Mr.

1:49:11Chairman to director, you'll get back

1:49:12with us and let us know

1:49:14>> to the chairman and councilman. Yes,

1:49:15sir.

1:49:17and then and Councilman, I don't think

1:49:19that the city has the expertise uh in

1:49:22this underground um so far deep

1:49:24underground. So, yes, I do really

1:49:27appreciate you bringing up all all of

1:49:28the um things that we should be aware of

1:49:31and then the questions that we should be

1:49:33asking this northeast Ohio sewer

1:49:35district.

1:49:36>> Well, I appreciate

1:49:36>> All right. Is there any other questions?

1:49:38>> I appreciate you, Mr. Chairman, and

1:49:39that's the reason why I asked uh

1:49:41earlier, Mr. chairman because we do pay

1:49:43somebody a lot of money to uh be our

1:49:46specialist in terms of air pollution and

1:49:50control in our city. So I would suggest

1:49:52Mr. chairman that we work with that

1:49:54department or why are we paying the

1:49:56person in the first place if he or she

1:49:59or their department is not involved

1:50:00because that's a part of the mission of

1:50:02their department is to make sure that

1:50:04the quality of air uh is of such where

1:50:07our citizens um doesn't have to be

1:50:10worried about gases they're not aware

1:50:12about.

1:50:13>> All right. Thank you, Joe.

1:50:15>> All right. Is there any other questions?

1:50:17Seeing no other questions. Ordinance

1:50:18number 688

1:50:20uh 2026 as amended is approved. Please

1:50:23sign it.

1:50:29>> You got another piece.

1:50:33>> I can't hear you.

1:50:43>> Okay. We got two we got two more pieces

1:50:45for you, director.

1:50:48Okay.

1:50:52>> Okay. We'll we'll hear this before we

1:50:53hear the other piece.

1:51:00>> All right. Public works.

1:51:05>> Yeah. We're gonna have public works and

1:51:06then we g we're gonna have public works

1:51:08come up and then we're gonna finish you

1:51:09up.

1:51:10>> Yeah. Because that's going to take us

1:51:11all the way through.

1:51:19All right.

1:51:22All right. Ordinance number 1033 2026 by

1:51:25Council members Bishop and Griffin is a

1:51:27department of request authorizing

1:51:30um the purchase by one or more standard

1:51:32uh requirement contracts.

1:51:35Hey, Councilman, can we um can we please

1:51:38uh hold the chatter down, please?

1:51:42For the purchase, lease and lease with

1:51:44options to purchase of various on-road

1:51:46vehicles, apparatus, off-road uh

1:51:48equipment, cabs, bodies, and

1:51:50accessories, accessories, equipment, and

1:51:52other aftermarket items necessary to

1:51:54equip the vehicles authorized for the

1:51:57intended purposes, including vehicle

1:51:59rehabilitation, training, and

1:52:01inspections as needed for the Department

1:52:03of Public Works. All right, director.

1:52:05>> Thank you, chair. Um, this piece, uh,

1:52:08this is one of our regular pieces that

1:52:11we do annually. This is to allow the,

1:52:13uh, the Department of Public Works to

1:52:16purchase, uh, vehicles for the

1:52:18enterprise unit. We have a list of the

1:52:20vehicles. I'm sorry, it's not.

1:52:24Oh, sorry.

1:52:26>> The list of vehicles is in the

1:52:27legislation, correct?

1:52:29>> Yeah. Sorry. Okay. I do apologize. I

1:52:31have the wrong piece of legislation.

1:52:33allows us to purchase vehicles uh for

1:52:35the uh Department of Public Works,

1:52:36specifically for our resurfacing

1:52:38program, and also for the Division of

1:52:41Recreation as well. I have here with me

1:52:43Commissioner uh Jeff Brown to be able to

1:52:45answer any questions you may have about

1:52:46that list.

1:52:50Okay, commissioner

1:52:51>> uh to the chair, this uh majority of

1:52:55this equipment is uh for the

1:52:58majority of this equipment is for the

1:52:59division of streets uh specifically

1:53:01toward their uh asphalt program. Uh

1:53:06there is also a uh Zamboni on here uh

1:53:10for the division of recreation that was

1:53:12funded by uh funds from Councilman

1:53:15Kelly.

1:53:16>> Okay. So is this uh part of the CIP uh

1:53:19director

1:53:22>> uh uh to chair though actually this I

1:53:24believe this is previous from the

1:53:26previous CIP not for the current

1:53:27>> previous CIP

1:53:28>> from the previous CIP.

1:53:29>> So this is uh for one 1.22 million is

1:53:33that is that what I'm reading

1:53:34>> 1.25 I mean 1 095 I'm sorry.

1:53:39>> All right. Uh is there any questions on

1:53:41ordinance on 10

1:53:43>> 33? Uh just one

1:53:48>> councilman Shaw.

1:53:49>> Thank you chair. Just a quick question

1:53:50on the Zamboni to the director through

1:53:52the chair. Just what's our timeline for

1:53:54um Howerin being able to get that new

1:53:56Zamboni

1:53:58>> through the chair to the councilman

1:53:59there. We currently have a Zamboni in in

1:54:01our fleet already. Uh timeline on this

1:54:05particular unit. Uh I would have to

1:54:07check with the manufacturer, but it

1:54:08would be probably

1:54:12early first quarter

1:54:13>> next year. Yes.

1:54:14>> Okay. Thank you.

1:54:16>> All right. I'm go to Councilman Harsh.

1:54:19>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a amendment

1:54:20to propose ordinance 1033 2026. At the

1:54:24end of section two, insert quote, "The

1:54:27director of public works shall provide

1:54:29written notice to the clerk of council

1:54:30whenever any purchase is made through

1:54:32the cooperative process. Which notice

1:54:34shall include the details of such

1:54:36cooperative purchases?" End quote.

1:54:39>> All right. Councilman uh Harsh has an

1:54:41amendment on the table. Is there a

1:54:44second?

1:54:46>> Second.

1:54:47>> Councilman Kazy seconds the amendment.

1:54:50Uh, is there any discussion,

1:54:54>> Councilman Jones?

1:54:55>> No. Take me off. Just put me off for

1:54:57comments. No discussion for me on this

1:54:59one.

1:55:00>> All right. Is there any discussion on

1:55:01the on the uh or uh on the amendment?

1:55:05All right. All in favor of the amendment

1:55:07say I.

1:55:07>> I.

1:55:08>> I. All opposed. The amendment carries.

1:55:12All right. Is there any [clears throat]

1:55:13other questions on ordinance number 1033

1:55:152026 as amended?

1:55:17>> Mr. Chairman.

1:55:18>> Yes, Councilman Jones.

1:55:19>> What is a Zamboni?

1:55:21>> Through the chair to the councilman.

1:55:23That is a uh ice cutting in u uh machine

1:55:27for the skating rink.

1:55:29>> For which skating rink, Mr. Chairman?

1:55:31Director?

1:55:33>> Where?

1:55:33>> Howiner

1:55:35through the chair to the councilman

1:55:36Howland skating rink on the west side.

1:55:38>> Okay. Okay. I never heard of that

1:55:40before. And Mr. Chairman, um, for the a

1:55:45[clears throat] asphalt recycling

1:55:46machine,

1:55:48uh, what does that actually do? Is that

1:55:49tear up the actual asphalt and recycle

1:55:52it as it's tearing it up? Mr. Chairman,

1:55:53to the director, how does that work? So,

1:55:55through the chair, to the councilman,

1:55:57this I believe this will be our grinding

1:55:59machine.

1:56:00>> The galla.

1:56:01>> Oh, this is the machine that we could

1:56:02actually use to recycle and replace um

1:56:07um for our recycling program to be able

1:56:09to recycle asphalt. Do what again? I'm

1:56:11sorry.

1:56:12>> This is the piece of equipment that we

1:56:13used to be able to recycle asphalt.

1:56:15>> So, we have

1:56:16>> You was able to do it. Are we recycling

1:56:18asphalt

1:56:19>> through the chair to the councilman? Uh

1:56:20what it does is the grindings that uh

1:56:23come from when we uh uh grind a street,

1:56:27we're able to take those and recycle

1:56:29those and rejuvenate those and turn them

1:56:31into fresh asphalt.

1:56:32>> So, also to add to that, we currently

1:56:34recycle. We have two plants, two areas,

1:56:37two stations where we recycle. We want

1:56:39to add a couple more of these. I think

1:56:40we're going to have a total of four when

1:56:42we're done through the chair to the

1:56:43councilman.

1:56:44>> Do we have enough, Mr. Chairman to

1:56:46director?

1:56:46>> Uh through the chair to the councilman.

1:56:48That will be enough for the amount of

1:56:50asphalt granny's that we collect right

1:56:52now.

1:56:52>> I see. And how resilient is the recycled

1:56:55asphalt versus the brand new asphalt?

1:56:58What's the longevity, Mr. Chair?

1:57:00>> Through the Sorry, through the chair to

1:57:02the councilman. It is not as resilient

1:57:05as the virgin asphalt, but we do add

1:57:08additives to it. So it uh we if you in

1:57:11the winter time it is a much more

1:57:12durable patch uh than we than to use

1:57:15something like a cold patch.

1:57:17>> So we use it Mr. Chairman to the

1:57:19director just for cold patches only. We

1:57:22don't use it for entire street

1:57:23rejuvenation

1:57:24>> through through the council through the

1:57:25chair to council. We do not use it for

1:57:27resurfacing. It is we use it mainly for

1:57:30um co for patching during the winter

1:57:32time because the asphalt plants are

1:57:34closed.

1:57:34>> I see. No further questions, Mr.

1:57:36Chairman.

1:57:37>> All right. Is there any other questions

1:57:38on ordinance 1033?

1:57:41Seeing no further questions. Ordinance

1:57:43number 1033

1:57:45um 2026 as amended is approved. Please

1:57:47sign it.

1:57:48>> Thank you.

1:57:55So this is ordinance number 1043 2026 by

1:57:59council members

1:58:04Bishop and Griffin by department of

1:58:05request an emergency ordinance

1:58:08authorizing director of parks and

1:58:09recreation

1:58:11public works andor finance to enter into

1:58:14one or more contracts with one or more

1:58:17temporary employment agency agencies to

1:58:20provide professional services to supply

1:58:23temporary and/or seasonal personnel for

1:58:26department of parks and recreation,

1:58:29public works andor finance for various

1:58:31divisions of city government for a

1:58:33period up to one year.

1:58:39All right, director.

1:58:41Okay, thank you chair. This uh piece

1:58:44that we have before you today is our

1:58:46again our uh annual request for to be

1:58:49able to go out and solicit um companies

1:58:52to provide uh temporary labor services

1:58:55to us not only in the department of

1:58:58public works and parks but also finance.

1:59:00Uh there are several uh departments that

1:59:02use this contract to be able to use to

1:59:05be able to place um seasonal or

1:59:08part-time or not part-time, I'm sorry,

1:59:09seasonal employees, temporary employees

1:59:12um for um um temporary work. Typically,

1:59:17um it's mostly known to most people as

1:59:19the Sniderblade contract because they've

1:59:21been the contractor that has had it for

1:59:22the longest period of time. But again,

1:59:24this piece is not to name a vendor. This

1:59:27is simply to be able to go out and to

1:59:29select a vendor. Um, with that, I would

1:59:32like to open up questions um for

1:59:34actually I'll pass it over to uh Mr.

1:59:36Forge if you had anything to add.

1:59:38>> Nothing else.

1:59:39>> Okay. And then that being said, I'll

1:59:41open it up for questions.

1:59:43>> Okay. All right. Um I'm going to council

1:59:46on Ky.

1:59:47>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman,

1:59:49to the director. This is going out to

1:59:51bid, correct?

1:59:52>> Uh yeah, we'll this will solicit an RFP.

1:59:55It'll be an RFP, so not a competitive

1:59:56bid.

1:59:57>> Right. I remember uh Mr. Chairman, to

1:59:59the to the director, the at least the

2:00:02past three years, we've had robust

2:00:04conversations at this table regarding

2:00:06the current uh recipient of the contract

2:00:10and their inability to

2:00:15live up to the expectations of the city.

2:00:18And uh I'm glad to see this is going

2:00:21this is going out to bid, but

2:00:25can we get for the can can the council

2:00:28get the attendance

2:00:30record for Snider Blake for the past

2:00:34three years? Uh and any major or minor

2:00:38incidents that their temporary help uh

2:00:42has been involved with while in the

2:00:44city. In addition, Mr. Chairman, uh I

2:00:47have an amendment to this piece of

2:00:49legislation because this is an extremely

2:00:51important piece of legislation for the

2:00:53basic city services of uh of the city of

2:00:57Cleveland. And one of the things we

2:00:59never get to do is we never get Snyder

2:01:02Blake at the table, right? It's just we

2:01:04go out and we never get to follow up on

2:01:08how we perceive or we see the the

2:01:11employees doing like we do with any with

2:01:13any other contract. So, Mr. Chairman, in

2:01:16section one after line uh on line eight

2:01:19after board of control, I would insert

2:01:21with legislative authority.

2:01:28>> All right, Council Council Ky, can you

2:01:29repeat that? I'm sorry.

2:01:31In section one, line eight, after the

2:01:34words board of control, I would insert

2:01:37with legislative authority, which which

2:01:40means prior to selecting this, you would

2:01:44have to come back to the council to uh

2:01:50let us know why you're choosing this

2:01:52vendor, right? Um, I just don't want to

2:01:55see Snyder Blake has had this for an

2:01:57awfully long time. And every year we

2:01:59have these same conversations. So, this

2:02:02gives us the opportunity prior to them

2:02:04selecting the vendor to bring back

2:02:06whomever they're going to choose before

2:02:08the council so that we can vet as well.

2:02:11>> All right. Council Kazy has a amendment

2:02:13on the table. Is there a second?

2:02:15>> Second. I can't second.

2:02:17>> You can't second it, Councilman Jones.

2:02:18>> By just a moment.

2:02:20>> Uh, Councilwoman Hudson seconds it. All

2:02:22right. Is there any discussion?

2:02:26>> Mhm.

2:02:27>> Yes, ma'am.

2:02:28>> Councilman Jones.

2:02:29>> Mr. Chairman, can we add into that um

2:02:31accountability clause and um Mr.

2:02:34Chairman, as Mr. Casey so eloquently

2:02:37stated earlier, we come to this table

2:02:40every single year. I know for nine years

2:02:42now, I've been talking about vacant lots

2:02:45and the issues that we have dealt with.

2:02:48So, Mr. Chairman, I would ask that there

2:02:51be some kind of assessment program put

2:02:54in place to assess the people who are

2:02:59responsible for the labor. And um like

2:03:03anything else, we have to um know if

2:03:07we're improving um or if we're not

2:03:09improving. So can we do that, Mr.

2:03:12Chairman to director?

2:03:13>> Well, see, Congressman Jones, that would

2:03:15have to be part of the contract.

2:03:16>> Okay.

2:03:17>> That could be part of the part of

2:03:18legislation. I I'll wait, Mr. Chairman,

2:03:20to to to

2:03:22talk about it here at the table and then

2:03:24maybe at a later date we can bring this

2:03:26back and amend it appropriately.

2:03:28>> Sure.

2:03:29>> To include that a more comprehensive

2:03:32look at, you know, holding accountable

2:03:35um people who do work for us.

2:03:38>> Okay. All right. All right. Director,

2:03:40you got a comment? Um, I I I will say,

2:03:44yeah, I do have a few comments about

2:03:46that and I understand the concerns that

2:03:48the the the body has and but I will say

2:03:52there are a couple things with that. Um,

2:03:56Snider Blake will hire the folks that we

2:03:58give them to hire. Um, so if if we have

2:04:03recommendations,

2:04:05they just put them out there. um if

2:04:07we're talking specifically about grass

2:04:10cutting of these um what you you get

2:04:14what you pay for and I I don't I don't

2:04:16know any other way to say that um

2:04:19through the chair to to the councilman

2:04:21to to both councilmen um

2:04:27we could

2:04:29increase the amount of this contract. it

2:04:32could be a a sizable increase which

2:04:35would reduce the amount of labor that we

2:04:37could put out. So again, I do understand

2:04:41um I do not think that the issues that

2:04:44are happening are happening because of

2:04:46the contractor. I think the issues that

2:04:48are happening is because of the type of

2:04:49labor and the amount that we can pay

2:04:52them.

2:04:53>> Um so I I will say that again this body

2:04:56is able will do what it thinks it's best

2:04:58to do. I just but I want to add that as

2:05:00well. Also, I also wanted to add the

2:05:02fact that because this is an annual

2:05:03contract.

2:05:04>> I'm sorry, I couldn't hear. What was

2:05:06>> Mr. Because this is an annual contract,

2:05:09the timing on this contract is very

2:05:11tight. Uh, so if we do have to come back

2:05:14for more legislation, it would have to

2:05:16be very, very early in the year. Um, we

2:05:19couldn't because again, this thing goes

2:05:21into motion pretty much in March. So

2:05:23whatever we do it it have to be I would

2:05:25ask that we could do it quickly so we

2:05:27would be able to get that because it's

2:05:29not just the department of public works

2:05:31that uses this contract. It is people

2:05:33throughout the entire city departments

2:05:35throughout the entire city that use this

2:05:36department this contract.

2:05:38>> All right Gson K you got to

2:05:39>> thank you Mr. Chairman Mr. chairman to

2:05:41the director. I can appreciate the

2:05:42comments there, but it's also um the

2:05:46council that puts in an awful lot of

2:05:48almost half of the amount of or no, not

2:05:51half the amount, a good a good portion

2:05:54of the amount in in Ward allocated funds

2:05:58and paying what we get for holds the

2:06:01city and or Snyder Blake ultimately

2:06:05responsible, right? I mean, they they

2:06:07have to take responsibility for the

2:06:09people that that they're hiring as well.

2:06:11And I think that's where it comes that's

2:06:13where it comes down to needing to know

2:06:16exactly what it is we're we're paying

2:06:18for and what we're getting out of it,

2:06:20which is why we're looking for

2:06:21attendance records

2:06:23>> um and incidents, incident reports,

2:06:26because

2:06:27>> you can say you pay what you you get

2:06:29what you pay for. And I and I understand

2:06:31that that line of thinking, but we're

2:06:33but we're also using public dollars to

2:06:36get this

2:06:38>> right. So,

2:06:39>> absolutely. So, if I could uh to the for

2:06:42the chair to the councilman, war crews,

2:06:44we do send out weekly reports of

2:06:46attendance and work activity for the war

2:06:50crews. So, those council members that

2:06:52have a war crew, they get that every

2:06:54week.

2:06:55>> Okay. Uh so that so and again with with

2:06:58the war crews we we do allow and ask

2:07:00that the wars if they have a reference a

2:07:03person that they would prefer to work on

2:07:04that crew we we do allow that as well

2:07:07>> and then Mr. Chairman to the director. I

2:07:09just have one other question. Oh, I'm

2:07:12No, we should go

2:07:12>> discussion. This is discussion.

2:07:14>> Does this does the temporary help cut

2:07:17vacant and abandoned properties

2:07:19>> through the chair to the councilman? Uh

2:07:22they do with a mixture of in-house

2:07:24seasonal staff.

2:07:26>> What?

2:07:27>> As well as a third-party contractor. So,

2:07:29right now we have three streams of

2:07:31people that cut grass. We have internal

2:07:33city people which are on city payroll,

2:07:36right? You got full-time and you've got

2:07:37what we call seasonal, right? They work,

2:07:39but they're on city payroll. That's one

2:07:41group. Second group is going to be what

2:07:43we would say the snider break or the

2:07:45outside contractor, which they're just

2:07:47labor. We provide the vehicles, we

2:07:49provide the equipment, we manage them.

2:07:51The third group is an actual external

2:07:53contractor that brings their own labor,

2:07:55their own vehicles, their own equipment.

2:07:56So, we have three streams of people that

2:07:59are we use to uh abate property

2:08:02throughout the city. As far as parks

2:08:04goes, I know I they they have two they

2:08:07use two sex. They don't use that outside

2:08:09contracting like way

2:08:13>> through the chair. Yes. We only utilize

2:08:15our full-time staff for that. That's for

2:08:17park cemeteries greenhouse and then we

2:08:19use this contract.

2:08:21>> Right. It just Mr. Mr. Chairman, the

2:08:22director, it sounds like a lot for

2:08:27It sounds like a lot of employees or

2:08:29seasonals or contracted work for the

2:08:33work not to get done as quickly or as

2:08:36often as it should. So, that's just why,

2:08:39you know, that's the reason that I just

2:08:40think it gives us a little bit more

2:08:42oversight, you know, just information

2:08:44purposes, you know, uh, going forward.

2:08:47Mr. Chairman, thank you.

2:08:48>> Okay. Um, Councilman Harsh.

2:08:50>> Mr. Chairman, you put me down. Um, so it

2:08:53seems that, by the way, Mr. Chair, are

2:08:55we still on the amendment?

2:08:56>> Yeah, we're still on.

2:08:56>> We're on the amendment. Right. So, it

2:08:58seems that the um council wards that

2:09:00contribute to this program are 2, 3, 5,

2:09:028, and 10, which are all exclusively

2:09:04east side wards where we all know that

2:09:06there's more vacancy and abandonment and

2:09:08therefore more need to invest in

2:09:10cleaning uh those areas. Um, through the

2:09:13chair to the director, it said previous

2:09:15amount was 6.8 million last year. When I

2:09:18look at the 2027 estimate, it comes up

2:09:19to 2.3 something. Is through the chair.

2:09:23Am I reading this correctly? There's a

2:09:24dramatic decrease in the amount that we

2:09:26believe needs to be expended in this.

2:09:27>> No. Through through the chair to the

2:09:29councilman. No, we we I typically put

2:09:31the number on that I'm aware of. And

2:09:33again, what happens is there are other

2:09:35departments that tag in and use this.

2:09:37So, it could go up to $6.8 million. In

2:09:41fact, I think that's what I have on my

2:09:42legislative summary.

2:09:43>> Okay. So through the chair to um I I

2:09:46understand my colleagues point about

2:09:48bringing it back for legislative

2:09:50approval and I think I would be uh more

2:09:53supportive if the council members who

2:09:55are contributing to this work were also

2:09:57concerned about the same issues. I don't

2:10:00hear I don't know if Mr. Chairman I

2:10:03believe you represent W two um and I

2:10:06don't know if this is going to be a

2:10:08timeliness issue because this work does

2:10:09have to happen rather quickly before the

2:10:11snowfalls. This is seasonal type work

2:10:13and I'm a little bit concerned that if

2:10:15we try to bring it back for legislative

2:10:16approval that will be a snag or a hold

2:10:18up and getting the work actually done.

2:10:20And for some of my colleagues on the

2:10:21east side, the timeliness of getting the

2:10:23work done might be more important than

2:10:26uh the legislative approval. And I'm

2:10:27just curious. I think the only council

2:10:29member here is is yourself, Mr.

2:10:31Chairman. Uh would you say that this is

2:10:33is timeliness is more important or

2:10:35>> timeless is very important? Yes.

2:10:37>> Okay. So, uh Mr. Chair, I can completely

2:10:39understand that. And while I do

2:10:40appreciate my colleagues uh spirit of

2:10:42the proposing the amendment, I might

2:10:44encourage us to instead put a shall not

2:10:46exceed clause on there instead to make

2:10:48sure that we just don't go above that

2:10:506.8 or whatever we think the ballpark

2:10:52is. Um but I do appreciate the concerns

2:10:55about the procurement process.

2:10:56>> Okay. Councilman Kazy.

2:10:58>> Yeah. No, no, that's it.

2:10:59>> Thank Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr.

2:11:00chairman on on that topic right there.

2:11:02The director admitted himself that this

2:11:05was seasonal for grass cutting and

2:11:07mentioned nothing about and the

2:11:09timeliness was we had to we had to hear

2:11:11something early next year. Correct.

2:11:13Which gives us

2:11:15>> ample ample amount of time uh to go over

2:11:18this uh and it's not like the snow's

2:11:20falling tomorrow because this isn't for

2:11:23the snow plow. This is for grass cutting

2:11:25etc. Correct.

2:11:26>> Uh through the chair that's correct. I I

2:11:28will ask though that there are times

2:11:30when we have the vendor go out and do

2:11:32pre pre-work.

2:11:34>> So,

2:11:35>> but all that stuff is done under this

2:11:36under the

2:11:37>> previous

2:11:38>> the under the contract that we're on now

2:11:39because when does this contract expire?

2:11:42>> I believe March the end of March.

2:11:43>> So, so we so we're under contract until

2:11:45March. So, timings I understand the the

2:11:48the the expedient

2:11:51nature of what needs to get done, but

2:11:53it's not like we're in a an ultimate

2:11:55time crunch for now. Okay. So, Council

2:11:58McKay, are you uh are you comfortable

2:12:00with us putting a up to clause in here?

2:12:02>> We can put that in there, but I also I

2:12:04would still also ask for the for the

2:12:07legislative authority, the original

2:12:08amendment, too.

2:12:10>> Okay.

2:12:11>> The director says this is a 6.8. You're

2:12:14only coming to the table with 2.2, but

2:12:16you're asking for 6.8, correct? Because

2:12:18other departments use utilize this

2:12:21contract. What other departments utilize

2:12:22the contract? uh through the chair to uh

2:12:24again finance is on this as well. Um

2:12:28there are clauses the um uh forgot what

2:12:31it's called when the increase the rate

2:12:34increase the rate increases in the

2:12:36middle of the contract as well. So

2:12:37there's factors not only about volume

2:12:41but the uh in October the rate will

2:12:44increase the fair rate fair wage law

2:12:46will increase at a rate every year. So

2:12:48these are the kind of things that we try

2:12:49to take into consideration when we have

2:12:51this amount here. So that 6.8 uh could

2:12:55be very good for this year. But once

2:12:56again, when the rates increase, that

2:12:58could have an impact on what we could do

2:13:00the following while we're in the middle

2:13:02of the contract.

2:13:04>> Okay. All right. Councilman Jones.

2:13:06>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, you know,

2:13:08let me just say this. Um, I have seen an

2:13:12improvement in some areas as relates to

2:13:15vacant lots. So I I just you know I I

2:13:18heard the director talk about my

2:13:20colleague talked about the different

2:13:21processes here. You have the breakdown

2:13:23of of the production of your seasonal

2:13:26work Snyder Blake external contractors

2:13:31and um I will give credit where credit's

2:13:34due. So I really appreciate the work uh

2:13:36that you have. I've seen some

2:13:38improvements. I think Mr. Chairman the

2:13:40director should have probably had

2:13:42someone come and tell us about those

2:13:43improvements first. So that the lack of

2:13:47telling us about the improvements we

2:13:48won't know. So I don't know who was

2:13:50supposed to tell us but that kind of

2:13:53information should be brought to the

2:13:54table so that we can fully understand

2:13:56the breath of this. Um, some of my

2:13:58colleagues on the west side don't

2:14:00understand the significance of the

2:14:02devastation that has happened on the

2:14:04east side of the city of Cleveland where

2:14:06there was a program put in place to just

2:14:09tear down every house and um and we have

2:14:13unfortunately over how many lots Mr.

2:14:16Chairman to director do we cut a year?

2:14:18>> So through the chair to the councilman

2:14:20we do about 22 or 23,000.

2:14:22>> So we have 23,000 vacant lots and Mr.

2:14:26Chairman, I will give my colleague uh

2:14:28Brian Kazy the kudos necessary because

2:14:30what he's talking about here is as we

2:14:33continue to sit at this table, we should

2:14:35be about improvement, how we can improve

2:14:38the processes, how we can improve

2:14:40productivity, how we can tighten our

2:14:43operations and make sure that um the

2:14:47next group that sits at this table don't

2:14:49have to worry about vacant lots because

2:14:51you have a good strong contracting core.

2:14:54you have a good strong seasonal system

2:14:56that's in place and that's what Mr.

2:14:58Chairman it should be all about. As long

2:15:00as we sit here at this table, we should

2:15:02always, as Mr. Kazy has brought out,

2:15:05look at ways and means to improve our

2:15:07operations. And so, Mr. Chairman, with

2:15:09that being said, I want to ask this

2:15:11question. Um,

2:15:14I would like to get a copy of the actual

2:15:16contract because then that way I'll be

2:15:18able to understand some of how what we

2:15:22got in place. And then I'd like to know,

2:15:24Mr. Chairman, if we could have a

2:15:26breakdown list of all of the

2:15:29departments, Mr. Chairman, that utilize

2:15:32this $6.8 million that we have here at

2:15:35the table. Is that possible?

2:15:38uh through the chair to the council. I

2:15:40believe we can finalize.

2:15:41>> Okay.

2:15:42>> Okay. Councilman. So, we're still

2:15:43talking. We're trying trying to get the

2:15:45amendment.

2:15:46>> Okay. So, no, this is not this is just

2:15:48open for miscellaneous. So, I'll wait. I

2:15:51have no comments on the miscellaneous.

2:15:53I'll come back when you give me the

2:15:55opportunity to get the floor to talk

2:15:56about. Okay. All right. So, Councilman

2:15:58Kazy has an um amendment on the floor.

2:16:01>> Um so, is there any more discussion on

2:16:03that amendment?

2:16:05>> All right. Those in favor of the

2:16:07amendment say I.

2:16:09>> I.

2:16:09>> I. Those opposed.

2:16:13The eyes have it. Um so um also

2:16:18Councilman Harsh, you have an amendment.

2:16:28>> Yeah. Uh Mr. Mr. Chairman, in section

2:16:29two, line two, um, strike the words and

2:16:33other funds.

2:16:36>> All right. Councilman Harsh has an

2:16:37amendment on the floor. Um, is there a

2:16:39second?

2:16:40>> Second.

2:16:41>> Council Gayy seconds it. Is there any

2:16:44discussion?

2:16:46All right. Those in favor of it,

2:16:48director.

2:16:49>> Yeah. Very quickly, just want to make

2:16:50sure I understand this drag. Is it are

2:16:53you asking that specific funds be

2:16:55>> added through through the chair? the

2:16:56[clears throat] the the the spirit here

2:16:57is to identify fund number

2:16:5901-70001-6389.

2:17:04>> I believe that's a nine as the source of

2:17:06funds and not leave it opened

2:17:08>> through through the charity. That would

2:17:10be problematic. Uh funds become

2:17:12available later. For instance, community

2:17:14development uh we don't know what that

2:17:15is until they actually award it to us.

2:17:18There are other uh again department of

2:17:21parks they're they're not under that

2:17:23fund. So there are there there are

2:17:25multiple

2:17:26numbers of funds that are used for this

2:17:28contract.

2:17:30>> Okay. So director, you didn't want to

2:17:32list the funds that could be used for

2:17:34the contract or you just want to have

2:17:35other funds.

2:17:36>> So by the time we get to next year,

2:17:38there'll be new ones that will be

2:17:40created. So I wouldn't be able to list

2:17:42them now because they don't get created

2:17:44until for instance the community block

2:17:45grant money that we get that won't get

2:17:48listed until next year.

2:17:49>> Okay.

2:17:50>> Right. So those those kind of things

2:17:52there are times when people want to use

2:17:53the war funds they may use, you know,

2:17:56block grants funds, they may want to

2:17:57use, you know, NEF, they may want to use

2:18:00a different pot. If that's the case, I

2:18:02wouldn't be able to do that because I

2:18:03can't use an alternative source of

2:18:05funding.

2:18:05>> Okay. All right. All right. Councilman

2:18:07Harsh, um, uh, you want to make comment

2:18:10after that?

2:18:10>> Well, Mr. Chair,

2:18:13>> I can, uh, I can withdraw the amendment.

2:18:15We can um under

2:18:19Councilman Kay's amendment, we're

2:18:21bringing it back for legislative

2:18:22approval anyway, so we can review the uh

2:18:25sources of funding at that time. So,

2:18:27I'll withdraw the amendment.

2:18:28>> Okay. All right.

2:18:29>> I mean, the proposal.

2:18:30>> Okay. All right.

2:18:32All right. So, the amendment on the

2:18:35floor has been withdrawn. So, is any

2:18:36other questions on ordinance number

2:18:381043? Director, you want to make another

2:18:40comment? Hold on just councilman. Hold

2:18:41on just a minute.

2:18:43uh through the chair just um yeah I I am

2:18:46willing to [clears throat] I have no

2:18:48issue with accountability. I do I have

2:18:50no issue with coming back. My my only

2:18:53concern is that we can come back as

2:18:54quickly as possible and move as fast

2:18:57will on our end. We don't want to we

2:18:59won't drag our feet on our end because I

2:19:00know a lot of times we we kind of do

2:19:02that but we won't. But I also want to

2:19:05stress the fact that um

2:19:09that whatever contract and I've used

2:19:11other contractors maybe once or twice

2:19:12before and whatever contractor we use um

2:19:17it will boil down to if we are going to

2:19:22supply them with the people or do we

2:19:24expect them to come up with the folks.

2:19:27For the most part, many of the people

2:19:28who are doing this expect to come back.

2:19:32>> They they've been doing this for a

2:19:34certain amount of years and they expect

2:19:36to come back. If if we do make those

2:19:39types of changes, just has to be

2:19:41understood that there could be a group

2:19:43of people that who were expecting

2:19:45something won't get it. So these are all

2:19:47the things that, you know, we think

2:19:49about. Again, uh also one of the things

2:19:52that I'm trying to do is to move more

2:19:53towards using um the third-party

2:19:57contractor uh to do more. We actually

2:20:00used a lot less Snder Blake this year

2:20:02and I used a lot more of the contractor

2:20:04and more. I took some of those Snder

2:20:05Blake folks that I thought were rock

2:20:06stars and we brought them on the city

2:20:08payroll. So, we're trying to find ways

2:20:10to use less of the Snder Blake because

2:20:13again, in my mind, I don't think I get

2:20:16the best bang for my buck for it. No,

2:20:17you don't. However, it is a to it is

2:20:20still a necessary piece that I have. It

2:20:23is still necessary to me until we can

2:20:24make a full transition either way. Um,

2:20:28so again, I with this contract to me it

2:20:31is it's a piece that I have to have

2:20:33until we are able to figure out and

2:20:35again it's not just to me it's not just

2:20:37about the graph cutting. There are other

2:20:39programs that we're trying to do to

2:20:40figure out what do we do with this land.

2:20:43I can cut it and I can abate it. Um, but

2:20:45people are going to continue to dump on

2:20:47it. people the grass is going to

2:20:48continue to grow. The next step is us

2:20:50trying to reach out and try to figure

2:20:52out what can happen with this land

2:20:54besides us just cutting it. How do we

2:20:56take the 21 23,000 parcels and shrink it

2:20:59down maybe to 20? And those are the kind

2:21:01of things that all of that has to be

2:21:03considered when we're talking about the

2:21:05type the accountability what we do on

2:21:07this property. All those kind of things

2:21:09can be thought about. So again, I do I

2:21:12will absolutely follow the lead of this

2:21:14this council, but I did want to make

2:21:15sure that I did add those points um

2:21:18about what we do and and what things you

2:21:20should can consider as we're thinking

2:21:22about this legislation.

2:21:23>> Okay. All right. Thank you, Rick. All

2:21:25right, Councilman Shaw.

2:21:28>> Thank you, Chair. Just um really quick

2:21:30wanted to follow up on something you

2:21:31mentioned, director. Um and I'm sorry, I

2:21:34don't think I caught the name of who

2:21:35else you brought to the table and what

2:21:37their position was. I'm Commissioner

2:21:39Porch, Commissioner over Park

2:21:40Maintenance and Properties.

2:21:42>> Wonderful. Thank you, Commissioner. Uh,

2:21:43thanks for being at the table and for

2:21:45your time. Um, to the director and the

2:21:46commissioner through the chair, I wanted

2:21:48to just understand um, in terms of

2:21:50compliance with our internal rules for

2:21:53these contractors and subcontractors,

2:21:56are we ensuring that they are being paid

2:21:59a a fair wage, a living wage under what

2:22:02the rules that we currently have?

2:22:04>> Yeah. Through through the chair and to

2:22:05the the councilman, yes, we absolutely

2:22:07do. Um, in fact, the the current

2:22:09contractor calls me to find out when the

2:22:12wages change. So, he is uh he's pretty

2:22:15on on the ball with that. So, yes, we

2:22:17are in compliance with the wages, the

2:22:18fair wage law.

2:22:19>> Okay. And that's that's great to hear.

2:22:21Do we make efforts to like also follow

2:22:24up and check their payrolls? Like, are

2:22:26we getting a certified payroll? Are is

2:22:28the commissioner the one who reviews it?

2:22:29Are you the one who reviews it? Just

2:22:30wanted to kind of understand the back

2:22:32end of it.

2:22:32>> So, through the chair to the councilman.

2:22:34Um I believe that's a function of the

2:22:36office of equal opportunity. Okay.

2:22:38>> That they are the ones that review uh

2:22:41once we give them the list of their

2:22:42subcontractors. They are the ones that

2:22:44review those uh those payrolls. But we I

2:22:46do look at the uh invoices and how much

2:22:49who gets paid what. So I do see the pay

2:22:50rates. So I do know that they are

2:22:52following those. Uh but again I'm not

2:22:54the expert on you know certifica

2:22:56certification of payroll. That's again

2:22:58office of equal opportunity. But again,

2:23:00we do see actually we see those invoices

2:23:02and we see that they are paying what

2:23:04they're supposed to pay to every worker.

2:23:06>> And right now, what is that fair wage?

2:23:09Do do you know?

2:23:10>> Um uh through the chair I believe it's

2:23:12uh 15.

2:23:15Oh boy.

2:23:20>> Yeah.

2:23:22>> So I think but I think we have to pay.

2:23:25Yeah. I think it's like 16

2:23:28for the chair. I'll have to I don't want

2:23:29to give you a bad number. I I'm some

2:23:31it's somewhere I somewhere between 60

2:23:33and 15, but I'll give through the chair

2:23:34to the council. We'll get you the

2:23:36correct number.

2:23:37>> Okay, that's so and I wasn't trying to

2:23:40put you on the spot. I Yeah, definitely

2:23:42would appreciate that on the followup.

2:23:43Just so it's around 15 or $16 to the

2:23:46best of your recollection. Is that

2:23:47right?

2:23:48>> Yeah. To the chair to the councilman.

2:23:50>> 1617.

2:23:51>> Okay. Thank you. And yeah, for the

2:23:53viewing public at home, I just want to

2:23:55emphasize as a council's representative

2:23:57or on the fair employment wage board

2:23:59that if you know someone who works in

2:24:00the city of Cleveland for the city or a

2:24:02subcontractor

2:24:04contractor, doesn't matter who if

2:24:06they're getting paid somehow by the

2:24:07city, they should be making that at

2:24:09least minimum of an amount. And if you

2:24:11know of any, you can always report them

2:24:13to the Fair Employment Wage Board. And

2:24:14we want to make sure we're following our

2:24:16own rules that we're asking people to

2:24:17do. So, thank you.

2:24:19>> All right. Thank you, Councilman. All

2:24:21right. Is there any other questions,

2:24:23>> Mr. Chairman?

2:24:24>> We going to go to miscellaneous. You

2:24:25want miscellaneous, right?

2:24:26>> No, no. On this on this subject matter,

2:24:28Mr. Chairman.

2:24:29>> Okay. Um,

2:24:29>> no. We voted on.

2:24:31>> Yeah.

2:24:32>> All right. Councilman Jones.

2:24:33>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your

2:24:35considerations. Um, looking here at

2:24:37ordinance number 1143

2:24:402026 at 6.8 million. I'm asking for

2:24:43>> That's 1043.

2:24:45>> Is that 1043?

2:24:46>> Yes.

2:24:47>> 1043 2026 for 6.8 million.

2:24:51Is that what we talking about? Okay. So,

2:24:54so Mr. Chairman, I'm asking and and I I

2:24:57appreciate the director as you heard me

2:25:00earlier when we were at the proposition

2:25:02of talking about and having discussion

2:25:04on the amendment was um an

2:25:07accountability system and how important

2:25:10that is sitting here at this table and I

2:25:13appreciate Mr. chairman um the

2:25:16director's predecessor setting up the

2:25:18contracting system that I had suggested

2:25:20years earlier to do to assist with that

2:25:23would like to get Mr. Chairman a um an

2:25:27assessment of just how successful that

2:25:29has been. I know you have stated here

2:25:31that you want to look to expand that. So

2:25:34uh it it appears that it has had some

2:25:36success and um and what's important to

2:25:40me Mr. chairman to the director because

2:25:43politics is politics administrations

2:25:45change how we can keep this embedded in

2:25:48such a way where we continue to get

2:25:50improvements Mr. Chairman to the

2:25:52director and my suggestion Mr. Chairman

2:25:55um to the director is uh getting a con a

2:25:59copy of the contract understanding who

2:26:02our external users are with the 6.8 8

2:26:05million. Uh if you have any kind of

2:26:08information uh that could be helpful for

2:26:10me to take an assessment of things so I

2:26:12won't be redundant uh in terms of your

2:26:15internal processes, how your seasonal

2:26:18system works, has it been productive?

2:26:20Have we you know what what are our

2:26:22measurements? Do we have measurements?

2:26:24How do we um how do we um assess

2:26:28productivity and how do we measure that

2:26:31success from one year to the next? you

2:26:33may already have your internal systems

2:26:35in place. Would love to know about that.

2:26:37And then that would help me, Mr.

2:26:39Chairman, to as I further take a look at

2:26:42this. And the reason why I look at this

2:26:44really closely, Mr. Chairman, um to the

2:26:47director is because this is one of those

2:26:48situations that have impacted me the

2:26:50most. Um, as you know, a couple of weeks

2:26:53ago, we had some discussions uh on the

2:26:56phone concerning some of this and just

2:26:59how um our citizens are like really have

2:27:02some of them have had it. And um and is

2:27:05in in the vein, Mr. Chairman, of what

2:27:08Kevin Conwell always says, they're not

2:27:10looking at you. They don't know your

2:27:11name, but they know my name. And so when

2:27:15they have issues, Mr. chairman to

2:27:16director, all of that disgust, all of

2:27:19that anger, uh all of that hate, some of

2:27:22it is hate, uh it comes to me and I

2:27:25don't, Mr. Chairman, uh like to receive

2:27:28that that way and um would like to see

2:27:31uh how we can continue to improve the

2:27:33production of your of your your

2:27:35establishment. So, with that, getting

2:27:37that information will help me, Mr.

2:27:39Chairman. And Mr. Chairman, thank you

2:27:41for allowing me the opportunity on

2:27:43behalf of my citizens to ask these

2:27:45questions and to hopefully have some

2:27:48kind of accountability system. And I

2:27:50would suggest, Mr. Chairman, as you're

2:27:52the leader of this group, uh that we

2:27:54have a full-fledged presentation of of

2:27:57that production and just how well have

2:27:59we uh what we have accomplished and and

2:28:03talk about those accomplishments because

2:28:04I've heard some of it from some of the

2:28:06field workers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman,

2:28:08to the director.

2:28:08>> All right. Thank you, Jones. Any other

2:28:10questions on ordinance number 1043 2026

2:28:13as amended? Seeing no further questions,

2:28:16uh, ordinance number 1043 2026 uh, is

2:28:20approved as amended.

2:28:22>> Thank you.

2:28:23>> All right. Thank you, Re. Thank you,

2:28:25Commissioner.

2:28:33We got two more.

2:28:45Yeah.

2:28:47All right. We're going to move on to

2:28:48ordinance number 1032 2026 by council

2:28:51members House Jones, Bishop Santana, and

2:28:53Griffin. This is a departmental request.

2:28:56Um, this is an emergency ordinance

2:28:58authorizing director of capital projects

2:29:00to issue a permit to 1293

2:29:03West 9th Street LLC to encroach into the

2:29:06public rightway of West 9th Street by

2:29:08installing, using, and maintaining a new

2:29:10elevated concrete landing ramp and

2:29:13stairs. All right, director.

2:29:16>> So, Mr. Chairman, this is a uh basic

2:29:19encroachment permit that we're seeking

2:29:21approval on. Uh this relates to the uh

2:29:25restaurant that was formerly Tommo on

2:29:27West 9th Street. Um and it is located at

2:29:311293 West 9th Street. The owner of the

2:29:34property, 1293 West 9th Street LLC, is

2:29:38preparing the building for a new owner.

2:29:39They'd like to have um an ADA compliant

2:29:42entrance. Currently, there are two

2:29:44stairs that lead into the property. And

2:29:48uh while it is a historic uh building,

2:29:50they have an idea to uh create a ramp

2:29:53and and to alleviate the um the ADA

2:29:56barrier to that building. They're also

2:29:58installing an elevator inside the

2:30:00building to that multi-story uh space.

2:30:03So we are seeking approval um to issue

2:30:06an encroachment permit um to the new

2:30:09owner uh to um make those improvements.

2:30:12>> Okay. All right. All right. Director,

2:30:13did you get um did you contact the

2:30:15council work person on record?

2:30:18>> Uh yes, sir. Uh uh Councilwoman House

2:30:20Jones is in support of moving forward.

2:30:22>> All right. Is there any questions on

2:30:24ordinance 1032 2026?

2:30:27Seeing no further questions, ordinance

2:30:29number 10 32 2026 is approved. Please

2:30:33sign it.

2:30:37All right. And last but not least,

2:30:39ordinance number 9312026

2:30:42as amended.

2:30:50>> You just put it right

2:30:51>> by council members Bishop and Griffin.

2:30:53This is a departmental request an

2:30:55emergency ordinance authorizing director

2:30:57of parks and recreation and/or capital

2:31:00projects to enter into an agreement with

2:31:02the Cleveland Browns Stadium Company LLC

2:31:05to reimburse the Cleveland Browns for

2:31:07the emergency repairs

2:31:10>> made to the Huntington Bank Field

2:31:12performed by the uh Cleveland Browns

2:31:14Stadium Company LLC.

2:31:17All right. Um

2:31:20and let me read the amendments.

2:31:29There is no legal objection to this leg

2:31:31legislation if amended as follows.

2:31:35Number one

2:31:37in section three at the end strike

2:31:43RQS

2:31:440103

2:31:47comma RL 2026-87

2:31:52and insert

2:31:54RQS01

2:31:5703

2:31:59RL

2:32:012026-87

2:32:04Seven. All right, director.

2:32:06>> Uh, Mr. Chairman, so this is our annual

2:32:09legislation related to capital repairs

2:32:11to the Brown Stadium. Um, before I I

2:32:14begin, to my left, we have Mark Dulick,

2:32:16the manager of architecture and site

2:32:18development. And to my right, we have

2:32:20Greg Rush and then uh Phil Dangerfield.

2:32:23If we could uh Greg and Phil, if you

2:32:25could give us your current titles. Phil

2:32:28and then Greg. Yeah.

2:32:29>> Yeah. Phil Phil Dangerfield, senior vice

2:32:32president of operations.

2:32:34>> Greg Rush, SVP and CFO.

2:32:38>> Um, thank you for coming today. So, um,

2:32:41if just a refresher for city council,

2:32:44uh, the city of Cleveland entered into

2:32:47our lease for the current Brown Stadium

2:32:50um, in uh, 1998.

2:32:54And what that lease does is it outlines

2:32:57who's responsible for what at the

2:32:59stadium. There's two types of repairs.

2:33:02Uh there's emergency capital repairs and

2:33:06then there are uh capital repairs. If

2:33:09there are emergency capital repairs as

2:33:12defined by the lease, then uh the Browns

2:33:15have the right to make those repairs and

2:33:17then um we are obligated under the lease

2:33:20to reimburse them for the cost of those

2:33:23repairs um after coming through a city

2:33:26council process. If they are

2:33:28non-emergency repairs, then um the city

2:33:31of Cleveland is responsible for putting

2:33:33out a bid and and and and moving forward

2:33:35with those repairs. As we have moved um

2:33:39from uh the the continued operation of

2:33:42the stadium into um the uh closure of

2:33:46the stadium um we have reduced um the

2:33:49amount that we come to council each year

2:33:52with regard to capital repairs and um

2:33:55this year the same as last year we're

2:33:57only seeking um reimbursement for

2:34:00emergency capital repairs. So in uh in

2:34:04this particular ordinance um we have um

2:34:081,222,8242

2:34:14of emergency capital repairs. Um, we can

2:34:17get into the details of of how these

2:34:20relate to the stadium, but the

2:34:22improvements are failure of a quad D

2:34:24sanitary pipe, sewer ejector pump

2:34:26failure, failed pipe insulation,

2:34:29overhead door capital repair, concrete

2:34:32and joint repairs, arc flash failed

2:34:34device replacement, quad C ejector pump

2:34:38replacement. So those items um that

2:34:41reach up to that $1.1 million um uh

2:34:45cost. So just a reminder also to

2:34:48council. So the the lease requires that

2:34:51the two parties have uh a capital audit

2:34:55of the station of of the stadium every 5

2:34:57years. So we did one in uh 2018, we did

2:35:01another one in 2023 which was completed

2:35:04in 2024.

2:35:06that capital audit will be the audit

2:35:08that that lives with us through the

2:35:11through the end of the stadium lease. So

2:35:14what we do is we um receive a request

2:35:18letter from the Cleveland Browns which

2:35:20outlines

2:35:22um what the uh failure is at the

2:35:25stadium. And that that request is

2:35:27accompanied with a letter from the firm

2:35:30who did the stadium audit which is

2:35:32Osborne Engineering. and Osborne

2:35:34Engineering confirms that yes, it's a

2:35:37needed uh repair uh needed emergency

2:35:40capital repair in this situation and the

2:35:42estimated cost of that repair. Um we

2:35:45work with Mark's team to go out and in

2:35:48inspect the item that needs to be

2:35:50repaired. We also confirm that it

2:35:53satisfies the lease requirements for

2:35:54emergency capital repairs. And at that

2:35:57point, the Browns are authorized to um

2:35:59move forward with the improvement um

2:36:01with the reimbursement coming later

2:36:03after city council passes passes an

2:36:06ordinance. Um so um we also we have

2:36:10meetings every two weeks with the

2:36:12Browns. We have a virtual meeting that

2:36:13director Nichols um participates in with

2:36:16with Mark staff and we really do work

2:36:19lock step um on repairs of the stadium

2:36:21and very specifically to keep our

2:36:24current repairs as low as possible

2:36:26because we're really just trying to get

2:36:28through the 2028 season. So with that,

2:36:32uh Councilman, happy to answer

2:36:34questions.

2:36:34>> Okay, director. So let me get this

2:36:36straight. So Osborne is the outfit who

2:36:40determines that this this is an

2:36:42emergency repair versus a capital

2:36:44repair. Is that what you're saying? And

2:36:46you approve it. Correct.

2:36:48>> Uh yes and no. So Mr. Chairman, so

2:36:51through an RFP process, Osborne was the

2:36:55one was the firm that received the job

2:36:58to do the stadium capital audit. So that

2:37:01was the report that was finished in

2:37:032024.

2:37:04We're required by ordinance to provide a

2:37:06copy to city council, which we did. Um,

2:37:09and so the Browns identify the need, but

2:37:13then they bring in Osborne Engineering

2:37:15to determine the the scope of the

2:37:18problem and determine the cost of fixing

2:37:21it. Um, we have to work internally with

2:37:24law department and capital projects to

2:37:26determine how it fits into the language

2:37:28of the lease. The Browns do that, too.

2:37:30But we also need to confirm that the way

2:37:32that the le lease defines an emergency

2:37:34capital repair that it qualifies.

2:37:36>> So So going back, so the Browns

2:37:38determine what's emergency and you

2:37:40approve it. Correct.

2:37:42>> They the Browns make a request and we

2:37:44review and approve to concur.

2:37:47>> So they made the request and uh you

2:37:51approved that it was an emergency repair

2:37:53instead of capital repair. Correct.

2:37:55>> That's correct. Yes.

2:37:56>> Okay.

2:37:56>> And we also confirm that the repair is

2:37:58needed. So we go out there, we take a

2:38:01look at it. If they're look, if they're

2:38:02saying XY needs to be done, we confirm

2:38:05that actually it does need done.

2:38:07>> So your criteria

2:38:09uh when you go out to look at the steel

2:38:11beams, your criteria, how can you talk

2:38:14about your criteria when you say, okay,

2:38:17this is a emergency right now. We have

2:38:20to do this right now or we can put this

2:38:22in capital. So talk to me about that.

2:38:26>> You don't have to e

2:38:30Yeah.

2:38:30>> Um, thanks, director. Uh, thank you, Mr.

2:38:34Chairman. Um, the basic criteria is

2:38:36pretty much like any. It's the health,

2:38:38safety, and welfare of any users of the

2:38:41stadium, whether it's the public or the

2:38:43Browns themselves, um, or their staff.

2:38:46Um, so what we do once the request has

2:38:49been made, we will go out in the field

2:38:51with both Asborne and with the Browns

2:38:53and we'll confirm that A the repair is

2:38:57there needed um b that it's an emergency

2:39:02and we'll also um verify that the cost

2:39:05they are proposing is appropriate for

2:39:07the task at hand.

2:39:08>> Okay. All right. All right. So I'm going

2:39:11to open this up to questionings uh from

2:39:13the committee. I'm going to go to your

2:39:15chairman.

2:39:15>> I'm going to go to my vice chair first,

2:39:18>> Councilman Harsh.

2:39:19>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, it's always a

2:39:21contentious subject when the fate of the

2:39:24stadium behind me comes up at the table.

2:39:28Um, I do just want to uh table set for

2:39:31everyone though. Uh, the stadium out

2:39:33there on the lake does not belong to the

2:39:35Cleveland Browns. It belongs to the city

2:39:37of Cleveland. The city of Cleveland

2:39:38built it however 30 years ago. Um, and

2:39:42it is not the only stadium we own.

2:39:43There's a stadium down at Low Park in my

2:39:45neighborhood that we also own. We own a

2:39:47few stadiums in the city. Um, this one,

2:39:50however, is open to the general public

2:39:52uh to the tunes of tens of thousands of

2:39:54people on any given day. Um, and we do

2:39:56have a responsibility to the public to

2:39:58make sure that we maintain it in good

2:39:59working order. Uh, I was very very

2:40:01concerned, Mr. Chair, about what these

2:40:03repairs were. Um uh the news has been um

2:40:08uh in the news recently has been the

2:40:10Cavs

2:40:11requirement for a new Humongotron

2:40:14um down at the uh Rocket Mortgage

2:40:16Fieldhouse. Um and I was concerned that

2:40:19the proposal in front of us was going to

2:40:22be to request uh you know frills and not

2:40:26uh essential work. But two things are

2:40:30pretty clear here. One is that these uh

2:40:33all have to do with sewer uh concrete

2:40:37and um joint work which feels fairly

2:40:41essential to me. Uh and two, the work

2:40:44has already been done under the

2:40:45requirements of the contract that we uh

2:40:47or that earlier city councils approved

2:40:50before well before most of us got here

2:40:52and some of us voted against. Um so this

2:40:55seems like a fairly routine process

2:40:58today. $1.1 million for essential

2:41:01repairs. Nothing here for um uh bells

2:41:05and whistles. It seems like a fairly uh

2:41:09reasonable expectation considering that

2:41:11we own it and we need to make sure that

2:41:13it's a safe place for the public to to

2:41:14get in and out of on uh game days and

2:41:17other event days. So, I I will hold any

2:41:19further questions for any issues that

2:41:21might be brought up through the course

2:41:22of the conversation, but I do understand

2:41:23that this is our facility and we have a

2:41:25responsibility under previously signed

2:41:27contracts to keep it in good working

2:41:29order. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

2:41:31>> All right. Thank you, uh, Councilman

2:41:33Harris. I'm going to go to Councilwoman

2:41:34Hudson.

2:41:37>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I understand

2:41:40through the chair to Director D. Rosa.

2:41:42Um, are these these repairs are required

2:41:45under the current lease with the with

2:41:48the Cleveland Browns?

2:41:49>> Uh, through the chairman of the

2:41:50counciloman, yes, they are.

2:41:52>> And, um, through the chair, this is the

2:41:54same lease that includes a relocation

2:41:57clause, section 9B2 that bars the team

2:42:00from relocating or engaging in

2:42:03relocation efforts. Is Is that true

2:42:05through the chair? uh through the chair

2:42:08of the councilwoman there. Um I believe

2:42:10there are qualifying

2:42:12clauses in the phrase in the there's

2:42:15qualifying statements in the phrase that

2:42:17you clause that you just read.

2:42:19>> Right. So the the this same lease also

2:42:22includes a relocation clause section 92

2:42:25that does bar the team from relocating

2:42:27or engaging in relocation efforts um

2:42:30through the chair. Do you believe that

2:42:33uh violating that clause is a material

2:42:36breach of the contract?

2:42:38>> Uh through the chair through the

2:42:40chairman and councilwoman. Great

2:42:42questions. My understanding is that the

2:42:44law department has fully vetted that

2:42:46clause and and and used it in our our

2:42:49court um hearings. How exactly that

2:42:52clause was litigated, I I cannot report

2:42:55back to council.

2:42:56>> Okay. Thank you. Um

2:42:59I I'll just, you know, sum it up pretty

2:43:01quickly that um unfortunately I was not

2:43:04given the opportunity to vote on the

2:43:08agreement that the Cleveland Browns made

2:43:10with uh the current administration. I

2:43:12can't speak for my other colleagues, but

2:43:14I would have voted no. And I think

2:43:16that's the reason why it was voted on

2:43:17before the end of the year before new

2:43:20council members were brought on um

2:43:22because they they weren't certain what

2:43:24the what the result might be. And I do

2:43:27believe that this is a material breach

2:43:29of the lease. Um, and therefore it

2:43:32invalidates the lease, including this

2:43:34clause, which would require the city to

2:43:37pay for um, you know, these standard

2:43:40improvements. I'm not disputing that

2:43:42these improvements uh, or these repairs

2:43:44need to be made. I'm just saying that

2:43:46the Browns who have who had a $660

2:43:51million revenue in 2025, the team owner

2:43:55Jimmy Hasslam has a net worth of 12.2

2:43:58billion. And so I'm of the opinion that

2:44:01they can foot the bill of the $1.1

2:44:03million for these repairs. I do not like

2:44:07that the Browns are leaving downtown. We

2:44:10had a beautiful day yesterday on the

2:44:12lakefront and I'm sure none of the

2:44:17none of the people who attended that

2:44:19game would have rather been sitting

2:44:21inside in Brook Park. I'm sure they

2:44:24absolutely loved being on our beautiful

2:44:28lakefront in downtown Cleveland. It

2:44:30breaks my heart that the Browns will not

2:44:34be in the city of Cleveland anymore. Um,

2:44:36that is all. Thank you.

2:44:38>> All right. Thank you, Councilwoman.

2:44:41Uh, next I'm going to go to uh,

2:44:42Councilman Palency.

2:44:46>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman, my honorable

2:44:49colleagues. Um,

2:44:51I would like to have had somebody from

2:44:53the finance um, department here, but let

2:44:56me just touch on this. I understand the

2:44:59lease terms um and I've done my due

2:45:02diligence over the years um on the whole

2:45:06deal and um as I've stated before I

2:45:10think the um the deal that the mayor

2:45:13entered into will probably go down is

2:45:15the worst deal ever in the history of

2:45:18the city of Cleveland ever. And the more

2:45:20I talk to folks and the more I engage

2:45:22and the more deep diving I do it only

2:45:25reinforces that to me. So, but um but I

2:45:28do have a solution and I do have a

2:45:31comment, but I'm going just touch on

2:45:32this. Um I was going through some of my

2:45:36stuff here now. Um there was an there

2:45:40was an issue with the Browns indicated

2:45:43we owed them 6 million in capital

2:45:46repairs

2:45:48for improvements they've made in the

2:45:51past. in 2025.

2:45:54Did we pay them the six million?

2:45:58>> Uh through through the chairman of the

2:46:00councilman, we are caught up with any

2:46:03invoicing that the Browns uh had had

2:46:06suggested was outstanding. I I believe

2:46:10yeah I don't know that was 25 then we

2:46:13must have paid him the 6 million.

2:46:14>> Okay. Now, um,

2:46:16>> yeah,

2:46:18>> this is another, um, so in 2025,

2:46:23and these are right out of this the

2:46:25administration's numbers, we paid 2.654

2:46:29million in repairs in 2025. I see the

2:46:32Browns shaking their head. Yes.

2:46:35Um, now, as of today,

2:46:40we still owe $27 million. 27,871

2:46:47um on on the principal and interest

2:46:53debt service. So, we still owe 27

2:46:56million on a stadium uh that um is not

2:47:01even 30 years old. Um and um is to be

2:47:06demolished

2:47:08uh because of the deal that the mayor

2:47:11entered into with Jimmy Hasslan. Um so,

2:47:17the city has been on the hook for a very

2:47:20long time pertaining to the Brown

2:47:22Stadium. We've made the repairs that

2:47:25were we were asked to to cover. And what

2:47:28I've asked and I will ask again, I want

2:47:31a tour. I want a tour of the stadium. I

2:47:35want to go over there and I want to see

2:47:37I don't care if I got to climb on the

2:47:39roof. I want to see the condition of the

2:47:42stadium. You know, I want to see it from

2:47:45the top to the bottom because as as the

2:47:49council lady indicated, when you looked

2:47:52at the crowd downtown yesterday and not

2:47:55only at the stadium, but the impact all

2:47:59the way up Ninth Street, all the way

2:48:01into the warehouse district by the

2:48:03businesses,

2:48:04the parking lots, the garages that took

2:48:08advantage of the um fans who came into

2:48:13to celebrate uh who to support the

2:48:15Browns and to celebrate a victory. Um

2:48:19only reinforces to me that we need to

2:48:23claw back the legislation. We need to

2:48:26amend the legislation to take the Brown

2:48:29Stadium out.

2:48:31We need to take the stadium out for us

2:48:35to continue to pay another 27 million in

2:48:41debt service and an estimated dollar

2:48:44amount in repairs.

2:48:47And please correct me if I'm wrong

2:48:49because I know director you're here.

2:48:51You're just the messenger. So I'm not

2:48:54putting this on you. But it it's

2:48:56estimated we are going to have to pay a

2:48:58minimum over the next number of years um

2:49:02of 2 million per year for repairs. Is

2:49:05that correct? I'm looking at the stuff

2:49:07that from the administration

2:49:09>> uh through the chairman of the

2:49:10councilman.

2:49:12>> Um

2:49:13>> yes, the capital audit does. But what

2:49:16we're doing, the reason this is only 1.1

2:49:18million

2:49:19>> is that we're really narrowing it down

2:49:21to just the things that really need done

2:49:23to get it through the last season.

2:49:25>> But in the documents that the

2:49:26administration provided to us, it's

2:49:29estimated

2:49:30um property uh there'll be an estimated

2:49:33$2 million

2:49:36for the Browns for improvements and

2:49:39repairs over the term of the lease,

2:49:42which would remain in the lease. And

2:49:45then

2:49:47if the Browns stay longer,

2:49:49>> then

2:49:51uh 20 28 or 29, whenever the lease runs

2:49:54out, we'll be on the hook for additional

2:49:57repairs on this stadium

2:50:00the way the lease was extended. So

2:50:02again, my honorable colleagues,

2:50:05um I understand we have to repair the

2:50:08building, our building that the mayor is

2:50:12going to give gave to Jimmy Hasslan is

2:50:14scrap and we'll make god knows how much

2:50:17money I It's. It's been estimated

2:50:18they'll make 10 million off the seats

2:50:20selling the seats besides all the other

2:50:23new improvements and enhancements that

2:50:26are being put into the stadium. You

2:50:28think those are going in a scrap bin?

2:50:29No, they're not. they're going to be

2:50:30sold. Everything that's in that building

2:50:33is going to be sold. We all know that.

2:50:35If if you believe other than that, then

2:50:37you believe in the tooth fairy. And I

2:50:39tend to believe in a tooth fairy more

2:50:41than some of the things I I I see around

2:50:43here. So, um I'm going to request I'm

2:50:47not I'm not going to support this. I

2:50:49need I want to go, Mr. Chairman, my

2:50:52honorable colleagues, I want a uh tour

2:50:54set up. We need to go over and take a

2:50:56look. And I'm telling you right now, all

2:50:58of us need to sit down and put our heads

2:51:00together. We need to bring the We need

2:51:03to bring the ordinance back. We need to

2:51:04pull the stadium out. All you have to do

2:51:07is 10 events a year. 10 events a year

2:51:10during the summer and it pays for

2:51:12itself.

2:51:13That's all we'd have to do is have 10

2:51:15events at that stadium and it would pay

2:51:17for itself. It's our building and we're

2:51:19and we um and due to the mayor's um

2:51:23infinite wisdom gave a city building to

2:51:26the to the Jimmy Hasslam Hasslam group

2:51:30to scrap which to me is absolut I've

2:51:33never seen anything like this in my 14

2:51:34terms in public office. We give a city

2:51:37building to a private entity to scrap

2:51:39and make all the money off of. I mean, I

2:51:43I I long maintain this again. I think we

2:51:45need to they need to check the the the

2:51:47pipes in the mayor's office or the

2:51:48ventilation. There might be lead in

2:51:50those pipes over there or or the

2:51:52ventilation might be bad over there. Too

2:51:54many bad decisions are being made around

2:51:56here. We keep losing. We keep losing. We

2:51:59keep losing. And this is another case of

2:52:01where we're losing. So again, I

2:52:04understand the terms of the agreement,

2:52:06Mr. chairman colleagues um what we're on

2:52:09the hook for but dog on it I want to go

2:52:11I want to see for myself I'm a doubting

2:52:13Thomas I want to go over there and see

2:52:15what needs to be repaired at our stadium

2:52:18at our stadium and again I would say to

2:52:20all my colleagues we need to sit down

2:52:22and we need to claw back the stadium we

2:52:25need to pull a stadium out of this

2:52:26smelly deal that never passed the smell

2:52:29test to begin with and certainly uh

2:52:31there's a extremely foul odor as a

2:52:33result of um the Hasslam group getting

2:52:36the demolition rights to this city-owned

2:52:38building. That should have never

2:52:39happened.

2:52:40>> And I don't I believe I bet the majority

2:52:42of people don't even realize that is was

2:52:44in the deal. U so again, I'll leave it

2:52:46at that point, Mr. Chairman. I want a

2:52:48tour. I want to go over there. I want to

2:52:49see for myself. Thank you. Thank you.

2:52:51>> All right. Thank Councilman Lind. I'm

2:52:53going go to Councilman Shaw.

2:52:56>> Thank you. Uh thank you, chair, and um

2:52:59thank you for the director and the team

2:53:01to um take some time to be here today.

2:53:03Um I you know I have a lot of thoughts.

2:53:05I I got some questions. I want to try to

2:53:07understand a little more about the

2:53:09technical results of what happens

2:53:12depending on what we choose. I I guess

2:53:13to the I don't know if this is more to

2:53:15the chair. Um I'm a little shocked that

2:53:17we're still going forward with this

2:53:18without the law director being here to

2:53:21actually advise council on what the

2:53:24potential outcomes could be if we were

2:53:27not to go forward on this piece. I I

2:53:29imagine this is something that the

2:53:30administration knows is a possibility.

2:53:33Um so I I I would request if that's

2:53:36possible for us to even potentially hold

2:53:37it until the law director is able to be

2:53:40here. I don't know if director if you

2:53:42wanted to comment on that.

2:53:43>> Uh through the chairman of the

2:53:44councilman I can comment on that. Um so

2:53:47um we are um contractually obligated to

2:53:52follow the terms of the lease. Um, so

2:53:54the terms of the lease do require that

2:53:56we go through this process. Um,

2:54:00and if city council in their authority

2:54:03chooses not to pass this ordinance, then

2:54:06the Cleveland Browns would have um a

2:54:10civil case against the Cleveland to

2:54:12enforce the breach of contract.

2:54:15>> I I appreciate that, um, Director D.

2:54:17Rosa, but my understanding is I I know

2:54:20the law director would be I think a

2:54:21better suited person to kind of walk us

2:54:23through what the pitfalls of that would

2:54:25be. Um I know you're the director for

2:54:28the capital projects. Um but in terms of

2:54:31what pitfalls the city could have, I've

2:54:33always resisted as an attorney myself

2:54:35from telling my clients what to do, but

2:54:37rather advising them what happens on the

2:54:39consequences of their actions. And I

2:54:41would expect the law director to provide

2:54:43that same advice to council as well

2:54:45rather than telling us what to do or

2:54:47what not to do. Um I'm happy if you want

2:54:49to go forward with the legal questions.

2:54:51If you if you want to answer them, I'm

2:54:52happy to ask those too.

2:54:55>> Uh through the chairman of the council,

2:54:57it's it's up to you how you want to

2:54:58proceed. This will be at uh finance uh

2:55:01uh committee. So happy to see if the law

2:55:05director if if it gets anywhere past

2:55:07today, it might be at another committee

2:55:09which would be called finance committee.

2:55:11>> I'm and you know we can spare with with

2:55:14um waiting for the law director. I mean

2:55:16my core of it and I'm genuinely trying

2:55:18to understand what the law director sees

2:55:20as the pitfalls of us going to court for

2:55:23it. I understand the Hasslam sports

2:55:24group would have their legal um options

2:55:26if if the city doesn't choose to um and

2:55:29that's up to the them if they want to.

2:55:31But in terms of what city council would

2:55:33have to make the decisions on, I think

2:55:35it depends a lot on what are the

2:55:37potential damages that the city could

2:55:38face, whether those be just monetary,

2:55:41whether it would be just specific

2:55:42performance. As far as I've reviewed the

2:55:44deal um and the lease from 98, there are

2:55:47not other additional damages on top of

2:55:49what we already owed to the Browns. So,

2:55:51my understanding is actually something

2:55:53different and this is something I would

2:55:55like the law director to provide some

2:55:56advice on, but if you want to comment on

2:55:58it, you're more than welcome to. uh

2:56:00through the chairman of the councilman.

2:56:01I have no comment.

2:56:02>> Okay. Thank you. Um so yeah, let we'll

2:56:05jump into it. Uh thank you chair again

2:56:06for your time and for bringing this

2:56:08forth. Um so I wanted to kind of just

2:56:10understand since we're talking about the

2:56:13capital repair fund. Um you know I I

2:56:15appreciate Councilwoman Hudson's points

2:56:17already regarding what clauses within

2:56:19the lease already have been violated,

2:56:21what not. At its core, a contract is

2:56:24really a meeting of the minds. It's

2:56:25where two parties have an agreement,

2:56:28have some sort of an understanding, and

2:56:30they're saying, "Look, we're going to be

2:56:31binding our future actions according to

2:56:34this meeting of the minds." Often times,

2:56:36the nuances of what that could be

2:56:38changes, and as long as the two parties

2:56:40are still committed to continuing a

2:56:42partnership, that really is what the

2:56:44core of it is for me, at least as an

2:56:45attorney, as a as someone who wants to

2:56:48wish well for the future of Cleveland. I

2:56:50think what happens next is equally up to

2:56:53Hazam Sports Groups as it is the city

2:56:55council. So if they want to continue

2:56:57this relationship, if they want to take

2:56:58us to court, all of those options are

2:57:00available at their table. What I know we

2:57:02have to do is make sure look out for the

2:57:04taxpayers of Cleveland and we want to

2:57:06make sure that we give them the best

2:57:07deal possible. So that why I wanted to

2:57:09kind of just jump into it. Um and can

2:57:12you just um introduce yourself again? I

2:57:14I want to make sure I'm addressing you

2:57:15correctly.

2:57:18Phil Dangerfield, Hasslam Sports Group.

2:57:21So,

2:57:21>> Greg Rush, SVP, CFO of Hasslam Sports

2:57:24Group.

2:57:24>> Greg and Phil, thank you for your time.

2:57:26So, yeah, I wanted to just understand um

2:57:28before we start, do do you know how much

2:57:32uh Mr. Hlam, your boss, the owner of

2:57:36Hasslam Sports Group, is worth? What's

2:57:39his net worth? I know Councilwoman

2:57:40Hudson just mentioned it earlier if you

2:57:42were listening

2:57:43>> through the chair. Um, we're happy to

2:57:45talk about the capital repairs here

2:57:47today, but we're not going to talk about

2:57:49things outside of that.

2:57:51>> You you can choose not to answer, but I

2:57:53think we can choose what we ask. So, is

2:57:55it are you not willing to talk about

2:57:57that?

2:57:58>> We're happy to discuss the hat capital

2:58:00repairs request in front of you.

2:58:02>> Okay. Uh, let me ask how about how much

2:58:04do you get paid, Greg?

2:58:07>> Through the chair to the councilman.

2:58:08We're not to discuss that today as well.

2:58:11>> Okay.

2:58:11>> I appreciate.

2:58:11>> So, do you want to tell us how much you

2:58:13get paid? And through the chair, I'll

2:58:14refrain.

2:58:15>> Okay. Uh, we'll keep it going then. I

2:58:18appreciate you guys making it quicker.

2:58:20Do you guys know um I think we'll take

2:58:21the numbers that Councilwoman Hudson

2:58:22mentioned, the 12.2 billion as um your

2:58:25boss who signs your paychecks. Usually

2:58:27when someone signs my paychecks, I look

2:58:29up a little bit about them. So, you

2:58:31know, just uh humor me for a little bit.

2:58:32I'll presume this is all um information

2:58:35that is publicly available. So, do you

2:58:37know how much 1.1 million is compared to

2:58:4012.2 billion? Do you know percentage-

2:58:42wise?

2:58:44It would be a little over 10%. A little

2:58:46under 10%.

2:58:47>> 1.1 million.

2:58:48>> Oh, I'm sorry. You said billion. Yes. On

2:58:50that be

2:58:51>> It's about 0.1%.

2:58:53>> You're better at math than me. I had to

2:58:55pull out a calculator. So, uh, through

2:58:56the chair to the Phil and Greg, it's

2:58:58actually

2:59:000.9%.

2:59:02That's what we're being asked right now

2:59:04for the rest of council. We are being

2:59:05asked by Mr. Hasslam to pay towards the

2:59:09repair costs that which already have

2:59:11been done. So there's no additional

2:59:12repair. There's no additional danger,

2:59:14which I appreciate. There's no danger

2:59:17that there would be um civil

2:59:19liabilities, right? If someone trips and

2:59:20falls, they can't really point to the

2:59:22city and say, "Hey, you didn't take care

2:59:24of these things, yada yada. These were

2:59:26repairs that have been already completed

2:59:28and now they're asking us for

2:59:29reimbursement." So I want to make it

2:59:31clear there. So 0.009% of 12 billion is

2:59:35what we're being asked. It's hard for me

2:59:37to kind of wrap my mind around these big

2:59:39numbers. So for the viewing public, I'll

2:59:41put that into comparison. If you had

2:59:43$1,000,

2:59:44this amount would be equal to 1 cent.

2:59:47That is how much Jimmy Hasslam believes

2:59:50he should not have to pay towards the

2:59:52upkeep of a team stadium that he profits

2:59:55from. When Jimmy Hasslam bought this

2:59:58team, it was he bought it for about a

3:00:00billion dollars. The team valuation as

3:00:03of today stands at about $10 billion.

3:00:06That's a increase of 10 times And when

3:00:10he sells this uh team, Phil and Greg, do

3:00:13do you believe he's going to be pitching

3:00:15any of that money back to the city?

3:00:18>> Cannot speak for for the owners.

3:00:20>> How about onetenth of a percent? Do you

3:00:22think he'd commit to giving that to the

3:00:24children of Cleveland for CMSD

3:00:26operations

3:00:27>> through the chair? Again, happy to

3:00:29answer questions related to this capital

3:00:31repairs in front of you. Uh but no, I

3:00:33can't answer that.

3:00:35>> I appreciate that. And you understand we

3:00:36have to look at the broader context.

3:00:38We're a city with bills that are due. I

3:00:40think earlier you've been here patient

3:00:41enough to watch us talk about how we

3:00:44just saved $1.1 million in energy

3:00:46savings on police uh headquarters across

3:00:49the city and that took us years and it

3:00:51was a valuable savings but that was $1.2

3:00:54million and we spent about 55 minutes on

3:00:56it. So you can imagine why we wouldn't

3:00:57want to look at the big picture when we

3:00:59talk about where this money is coming

3:01:00from. So um with that I I wanted to also

3:01:04just talk a little bit about with

3:01:06director. Can you tell us a little bit

3:01:08about what $1.1 million could cover in

3:01:11your capital improvements plan that

3:01:12we're going to be debating just in a

3:01:14couple months here

3:01:15>> uh through the chairman of the

3:01:16councilman. So, the good news is that uh

3:01:19the only um purpose of the stadium fund

3:01:22is to put it into this stadium for

3:01:24capital repairs for any repairs that are

3:01:27qualify under the lease. So, um this

3:01:30$1.1 million does not need to be covered

3:01:32by the capital plan. And likewise, um,

3:01:35the needs that I have, uh, for the rest

3:01:37of the city cannot be covered by the,

3:01:39uh, stadium repair fund.

3:01:41>> That's great. Um, however, that stadium

3:01:45repair fund, the purpose of that can be

3:01:47legislated and we can choose to allocate

3:01:49that differently and I know that's

3:01:51something that council hasn't always

3:01:52chosen to do, but all of those funds are

3:01:55at the discretion of council. So, we are

3:01:57trying to understand where we can

3:01:58maximize our spending from. And so with

3:02:01that being said, I I've taken the

3:02:03liberty from looking at the capital

3:02:04improvement project for the ones that

3:02:06you just submitted. Um I know we

3:02:08Councilwoman Hudson and I have been

3:02:10discussing a fire station um that we've

3:02:12been going back and forth on in

3:02:14negotiations with the property owners. I

3:02:16mean $1.1 million would get us uh pretty

3:02:19far along ways for that. Um the citywide

3:02:21sidewalk program 50/50 program has

3:02:24allocated in the capital improvements

3:02:26plan $1 million. this would more than

3:02:28double that amount um for the everyday

3:02:30residents of Cleveland who already

3:02:32cannot afford a ticket. And now when the

3:02:35stadium will be moving, it's going to be

3:02:36even more affordable. The changes on

3:02:38their sidewalks are going to be a lot

3:02:39more important than it will be spent on

3:02:41the stadium. So, you can imagine why I

3:02:44I'm I'm pretty pressed about why are we

3:02:46going to find this money when we see $2

3:02:48million just sitting around. So um with

3:02:52you know I'm going to also talk I want

3:02:54to talk a little bit about just some of

3:02:56the other actions that um the hlams have

3:02:58taken around our city. So um we've seen

3:03:01this proliferation of charter and

3:03:03private schools coming into our city

3:03:05with CMSD closures. Um Mr. Hasslam is a

3:03:09big proponent of privatizing education

3:03:11as well. He's funneled a lot of money

3:03:13into it to make sure that our public

3:03:14schools are worse as they go on. Um,

3:03:17Phil and Greg, would you like to comment

3:03:18about the utility of these schools and

3:03:20how they benefit the city of Cleveland?

3:03:22>> Uh, through the chairman of the council

3:03:24man. I'm going to say that they're

3:03:24they're not going to respond to

3:03:26questions about charter schools.

3:03:28>> That's okay. They have a mic. I

3:03:29appreciate that, director. I I want to

3:03:30understand and hear from them.

3:03:32>> Confirmed on what the director has said.

3:03:34We will not choose to respond. Thank

3:03:36you.

3:03:36>> Sorry. Sorry. Yeah. Confirmed.

3:03:39>> I can't hear

3:03:41respond to that question. Thank you. Do

3:03:43the chair to the councilman.

3:03:44>> Why not? I I'm not unfortunately that is

3:03:47not the purpose of us here today and I

3:03:49have not looked into it nor have an

3:03:50opinion right now.

3:03:51>> Okay. Let's talk about the Hasslams uh

3:03:54the Hasslam sports group since you are

3:03:55the CFO right. Um can you walk us

3:03:57through what your profits were last

3:03:58year?

3:04:00>> Uh through the chair to the councilman I

3:04:02cannot that is a we are a private

3:04:04business and I am not here to discuss

3:04:06those.

3:04:07>> Okay. So you you're asking us for money,

3:04:11but you are not willing to tell us how

3:04:12much money you have made from this

3:04:14public entity, from this public stadium.

3:04:18>> Again, through the chair to the

3:04:19councilman, we're here to discuss the

3:04:20legislation in front of us regarding the

3:04:22capital repair reimbursement for this

3:04:24last year.

3:04:24>> I promise you, Greg, that's what it's

3:04:26related to. So no comment on the how

3:04:28much money the Browns have earned off

3:04:30the stadium?

3:04:30>> Uh through the chair to the councilman?

3:04:32No, not at this time.

3:04:33>> Okay. All right. Um, I want to

3:04:36understand a little bit about this new

3:04:37tailgating concept. I know just some of

3:04:40my friends were there last uh at the

3:04:42home opener and they were excited. They

3:04:44were down at the MUN lot um and excited

3:04:47looking forward to it. Reports are

3:04:49talking about $20,000 fees for

3:04:50tailgating at the new stadium. Is that

3:04:53something that um and news articles have

3:04:55talked about how the Browns want to

3:04:56create a premium fans experience? Is

3:04:59that something that you're willing to

3:05:00talk about?

3:05:02I would say through the through the

3:05:03chair to the councilman a fan experience

3:05:05is very important to us. We're still in

3:05:06the midst of determining all those

3:05:07things at this point in time.

3:05:09>> Okay. What uh to the team through the

3:05:13chair, what are you willing to talk

3:05:14about? If we can't talk about the Browns

3:05:16uh funding, if we can't talk about the

3:05:18HLMS, if we can't talk about the Premium

3:05:20Fins, uh the two separate classes, I

3:05:23want to understand what are you here to

3:05:24talk about

3:05:25>> through the chair, to the councilman,

3:05:27the legislation that we're we've

3:05:28discussed today. All of those questions

3:05:30are Germaine

3:05:35>> uh through the chairman of the council

3:05:37man. So our intention is to talk about

3:05:39the capital repairs uh the lease

3:05:41requirements. Um whether council

3:05:44approves it or not is is purely a

3:05:46council's discretion. Um whether we uh

3:05:49make it past this committee or not

3:05:51purely a council's discretion. But um

3:05:55our uh you know our expectation is that

3:05:57we would have questions about what is an

3:05:59injector pump or why do we need to

3:06:03replace an injector pump? What is the

3:06:05process for determining if these repairs

3:06:07need to be done? How do we hire firms to

3:06:10to do the analysis? Things like that. So

3:06:13um with all due respect, you can

3:06:15continue to ask questions, no problem,

3:06:17but I don't know that the uh folks that

3:06:19we brought with you are the right ones

3:06:21to answer the questions you're currently

3:06:22asking. I think that's that's fair,

3:06:25director, and I think um that is perhaps

3:06:27some of the frustration right now is

3:06:28that the director Mark Griffin is not

3:06:31here to provide us some of that legal

3:06:32context and some of the bigger pictures

3:06:35stuff. I know you desperately and

3:06:37administration desperately wants council

3:06:39to be focused on the minutiae and not

3:06:40look at the bigger picture, but

3:06:42unfortunately we also have a directive

3:06:43for our taxpayers to make sure we do

3:06:45look at the bigger picture. So, I want

3:06:47to continue on uh making sure that we

3:06:49are talking about how the brands, the

3:06:51Browns are planning on creating two

3:06:52different experiences in this new

3:06:54stadium, right? A premium fans and one

3:06:56for the poor fans. We want to make sure

3:06:57that people for the people who have it

3:06:59all that they continue to get more and

3:07:01for our poor fans who can't afford it

3:07:03that they can't afford to come out there

3:07:04and they can watch it on TV. I don't

3:07:06know where even uh someone watches teams

3:07:08right now, but um to to the chair, this

3:07:12is I think immensely frustrating for me

3:07:13not to get some more answers and some

3:07:15more context about what has brought the

3:07:17Browns to the table to ask us for this

3:07:19money when it seems by every piece of

3:07:21evidence that we have that they have

3:07:23ample money that they have fleeced Ohio

3:07:26State taxpayers for $600 million in

3:07:28public subsidies already and they

3:07:30continue to turn around and ask us for

3:07:32more money while Jimmy Hasslam continues

3:07:34to evade taxes. this funnel Republican

3:07:36candidates like Viv Ramaswami who is

3:07:38going to undercut and destroy our city

3:07:40while acting like he wants the best for

3:07:43our city. Um so I I I'll reserve the

3:07:45rest of my time right now and and just

3:07:47say that um I'm an absolute no on this

3:07:49question. I think it would be an

3:07:50embarrassment to the city of Cleveland

3:07:52to give billionaire Bratton billionaires

3:07:55um $1.1 million when they have ample

3:07:57money. Uh with that I yield chair.

3:08:00>> All right. Thank you, Councilman Shaw.

3:08:01Um, listen. Um,

3:08:04ordinance number um 931 2026. I'm going

3:08:09to hold. Um, so any other questions?

3:08:12>> Yes, Mr. Chairman

3:08:13>> by the committee.

3:08:14>> Yes, Mr. Chairman.

3:08:15>> Yes, I'm going to hold this piece of

3:08:16legislation. Is it a uh What's your

3:08:18question, Council?

3:08:19>> Yes, Mr. Chairman. I just want to ask a

3:08:21series of questions and request for

3:08:22information, too.

3:08:24>> Councilman, I'm I'm going to hold this

3:08:26piece of legislation. We have to pick

3:08:27this up on another meeting about this

3:08:29piece of legislation. Okay. Is there any

3:08:31other any other

3:08:32>> point? I have a question, Mr. Chairman.

3:08:35>> My question, Mr. Chairman, are you

3:08:37saying that I can't have a question on

3:08:39the discussion that we're talking about

3:08:41because you're about to hold it? I need

3:08:42clarification.

3:08:43>> Right. This this piece is held as of

3:08:46right now, this piece is held and I'm

3:08:48getting ready to g our meeting out and

3:08:50I'm I want the last piece.

3:08:52>> Councilman, if you have any other

3:08:54questions, please let's state them now.

3:08:56>> Yes, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to request

3:08:58information, Mr. Chairman. So, the the

3:09:00first thing, Mr. Chairman, I'd like to

3:09:02request um and I think our colleagues

3:09:04kind of touched on a little bit is the

3:09:06legal discussion of a contract that has

3:09:09already been broken. Uh what's the

3:09:11legality behind that? Would like to have

3:09:13clarification there uh from our law

3:09:15department on that subject matter.

3:09:17That's number one. Number two, Mr.

3:09:19chairman. Um I think that is really

3:09:22important is a projection of what will

3:09:26be the ongoing cost to maintain Mr.

3:09:30Chairman uh the stadium until which

3:09:33times that um it's going to be vacated

3:09:38and Mr. Chairman uh given the fact that

3:09:41we know that there's been construction

3:09:44that's being done Mr. Chairman in Brook

3:09:46Park Mr. chairman would like to have a

3:09:49scheduled timeline on when uh Mr.

3:09:52Chairman, the Hasslam group uh and how

3:09:55long will a Hasslam group need to use

3:09:58the stadium and have we taken that in

3:10:00condition and then being able to have a

3:10:02a projection of when we will will see

3:10:05that that transition or what year are we

3:10:08looking at that transition and and then

3:10:10and then finally, Mr. chairman. Um, uh,

3:10:14once this is produced, the question is,

3:10:16how long can you get that to me before

3:10:18we actually have the discussion of the

3:10:21legislation? And I would presume, Mr.

3:10:23Chairman, you're not going to leave that

3:10:24out of this committee. You're going to

3:10:26leave it in the committee, Mr. Chairman,

3:10:27for clarification.

3:10:29>> Well, Councilman, we haven't met made

3:10:30that determination yet. Right now, we're

3:10:32getting ready to end this committee and

3:10:34I'm just giving you the last request

3:10:36from so we can get this on on record for

3:10:40our staff that that you want these the

3:10:42requested information,

3:10:43>> right, Mr. Chairman? And so that's

3:10:45important, Mr. Chairman, to understand

3:10:47if we will, as we should in this

3:10:49committee, um have the further

3:10:51discussion so if it's being held to a

3:10:53later time for the information to be

3:10:55given to us so that we can have, Mr.

3:10:57chairman the appropriate opportunity to

3:11:00really do what we're we're being paid to

3:11:02do is to actually fundamentally go over

3:11:04the legislation, make sure that the

3:11:06deals that we are in agreement with, we

3:11:08are fundamentally in agreement with and

3:11:10then being able to have the time to be

3:11:12able to view or review the information,

3:11:14Mr. Chairman, that I've just requested

3:11:16um from the director.

3:11:19>> All right. Thank you, Councilman Jones.

3:11:21Um I'm calling the um conclusion of the

3:11:24MSP to the next call of the chair.

3:11:37>> [music]

3:11:44[music]

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