By Noell Wolfgram Evans

On July 20, the members of the Village of Silver Lake Council met in the Town Hall meeting room for their second regular meeting of the month. In attendance were At-Large Council Members Christopher Scott, Suzanne Garrett and Betsy Meyer, as well as District A Member James Kurtz, District B Member Kevin Rozsa and District C Member and Council Vice President Philip Kaplan.

Also attending were Mayor Therese Dunphy, Law Director Patricia Rubright, Chief of Police Steve Justice, Director of Public Service Ben Gregory and Clerk-Treasurer Sean Housley. 

Kaplan called the meeting to order and then led those in attendance in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Following the roll call, Kaplan noted the absence of Council President Matt Plesich. A motion was made to excuse Plesich and all voted in the affirmative. Next Kaplan put up for approval the meeting minutes from July 6. Meyer wanted to add clarity to comments Gregory had made regarding building in the village. As no consensus could be found as to the comments or context, Housley agreed to listen to the audio of the meeting to confirm or annotate the minutes.

Two ordinances were then offered into the record. 36-226 (offered as a first reading) would adjust the police shift schedule and the pay grade for the assistant to the treasurer. The second reading of 34-226 was also made. This would approve the purchase by the village of the property at 8 Lodge Drive.  

There was then an opportunity for members of the community to speak. Juliene Testa of Cranbrooke Drive rose to speak about a number of trees that a new resident in the area cut down. Apparently that resident lives in a house with a Munroe Falls address, but there is a concern that the trees belonged to the neighborhood and the village. She also shared a letter from her neighbor with similar concerns.

Kristen Nervo of Chautauqua Drive spoke about the recent run of power outages in the village. She said that since March 13, she has had random outages totalling 109 hours. She was also concerned about the erosion from the creek in her backyard claiming that, next to the creek, she has lost a foot and a half of land since 2020. Nervo was also concerned about the loss of the trees, saying that it left the playground very “exposed.”

Carl Simmers from Cranbrooke Drive also spoke about the loss of the trees.

Gary Sexton of Lee Road was concerned about the considered purchase of the Lodge Drive property. He believed that the appraisal was wrong and that, regardless, the village would be better served by spending the money elsewhere, such as on water lines and sidewalks that he said he was “embarrassed by.”

The meeting then moved onto committee reports. Garrett provided additional details on ordinance 36-226, saying it would only affect officers working the night shift. Justice shared that there was no cost to the village to make this change and that it would make them more attractive for recruitment and retention. Housley said that the second half of the ordinance, regarding the pay grade, would correct an oversight made when a full-time role was split into two part-time positions. A motion was then made to suspend the rules and the ordinance was passed unanimously.

Meyer then opened discussion on the proposed Lodge Drive purchase, saying that she believed they should get an independent appraisal and suggested getting the soil tested. 

“Honestly, I would be ok with seeing it go to market and see what happens,” she said.

She asked Garrett how many vehicles he currently had sitting outside and exposed. He replied that there were three, plus a trailer and various pieces of “water supplies.” Garrett added that he checked city ordinances and found that on that parcel, he could build a 50’ x 90’ structure, although he wasn’t sure one that large would be needed.

Scott wondered if the village couldn’t use the space they had, particularly calling out where the salt barn used to be. Kurtz seconded concerns over the soil. 

“I think anything we purchase going forward needs to be tested, but current spaces, like the service garage, can be grandfathered in,” Kurtz said.

Rozsa asked Housley if there were stipulations on how the funds in question could be spent. Housley said there were not. 

“Then perhaps if we do have other needs, we should really consider these costs,” Rozsa said.

Kaplan brought the conversation back to the question of if there were other spaces that the village currently owned that could be used. Dunphy suggested that while those spaces were looked into, the council still get the appraisal and soil testing so they could understand what the true costs of all options are. 

Kaplan then asked to hold the second reading of this ordinance until the Aug. 3 meeting so that additional information could be gathered.

Garrett concluded the finance committee report by presenting the check report. Scott questioned the purchase price – $800 – of a hedge trimmer.

Dunphy next offered the mayor’s report. She encouraged all of the council members to tour the Lodge Drive property and to consider the ancillary changes that would occur by using currently owned village property.

She then offered praise to the police and service departments for their “tireless” action over the weekend. When the storms hit, “we called everyone in and it was fast and furious,” she said. 

Dunphy also had words of thanks for the Garden Club for providing lunch for the work crews. 

There were still about 20 homes without power in the village, she said, but they were expected to have power restored that night. She also announced a one-time brush pickup for storm debris on July 27.

Regarding the power outages, Dunphy had a pre-scheduled meeting with FirstEnergy and will bring those concerns with her. She also said they were aware of the issues with the removed trees and were considering what to do. 

“There was one tree that was ours and three that were questionable,” she said.

Kurtz questioned why the storm sirens didn’t go off over the weekend. Justice replied that is because those are triggered only by tornado warnings. 

Justice, Dunphy and Garrett have all been meeting to discuss the traffic concerns caused by the storm. Lee Road was discussed as a detour route, although they understood it can be a confusing road to navigate and doesn’t have a clean exit point. Dunphy said over the weekend several residents along the road had stepped outside to help with traffic control.

The meeting then continued forward and Garrett thanked the residents for attending. He said they planned on trying to combat some of the erosion concerns by letting one side of the creek go natural and planting on the other.

Housley then announced that property assessments were out and budgets for the coming year had been sent to the various departments. With no further comments, the meeting ended at 8:05 p.m.