Portion of Your Taxes Paying for Arthur Ave Beautification

[Laura Hammel]

Council voted to begin the process of investigation/due diligence re: the lighting project on Arthur. Two concerning revelations from the meeting: (in my opinion) 1) tax dollars paid by Lakewood residents will support 2% of the beautification project that impacts only 1/3 of Arthur, and tax dollars collected by the city will pay for any and all maintenance or replacement required in the future. Likewise, Arthur Avenue current and future residents could be assessed an additional 30% of any repair or renovation of the lights in the future if Council so chooses to impose another special assessment (or, Lakewood tax revenue collected from people throughout the city will pay for it).

2) The current published cost per household ($1831) is not fixed. Once the project goes out for bid, it can change--might go down, might go up. So residents were signing a petition and not really understanding what the final cost was.

I was shut down when asked why all residents on Arthur Avenue weren't invited to join the lighting party, learning from Tom Bullock and Brian Powers that (and I paraphrase) no street in Lakewood is ever considered as a "whole" and that projects, like road repair, are completed in sections--so this lighting project would be completed in sections. My next question was whether the other parts of the street would be either forced or invited to beautify once first section was completed, and Mr. Powers told me we were only dealing with the section of Arthur between Detroit and Hilliard because that was where the petition originated. Fair enough.

Was also shut down on the word "necessary" in the resolution, being told by the Law Director and Brian Powers that the word is used in resolutions because that is how they are written. I did point out that point 727.12 in the Ohio Revised Code defines resolution of necessity as "When it is deemed necessary by a municipal corporation to make a public improvement to be paid for in whole or in part by special assessment..." I guess the meaning is in the eyes of the beholder, but it sure sounds like the council has the responsibility to determine that this is a NECESSARY IMPROVEMENT (not a nice beautification project) before assessing Arthur residents with a tax OR spending tax dollars paid by other Lakewood residents.

Finally, Arthur Ave residents who want the lighting brought up how dangerous the street is with the current lights. If this is the case, the city really should step up patrols.

Respectfully submitted....

[Betsy Voinovich]

Arthur Ave residents who want the lighting brought up how dangerous the street is with the current lights.

Wait a second, I thought this whole thing was about "antique-style authentic period lighting restoring the grace and beauty of a former time" to this section of Arthur. It's dangerous to walk on Arthur now? Because it's too dark? Wow. What about every single other street in Lakewood? Do we all need decorative lights?

Betsy Voinovich