Five big pieces of legislation passed by Cleveland City Council
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Cleveland City Council on Monday passed nearly 40 pieces of legislation, many allocating chunks of federal pandemic relief dollars.
Why it matters: The meeting was the last before the summer recess, when the city's legislative body meets monthly instead of weekly.
- Council's committee of the whole met all day to iron out ordinances, many of them time-sensitive, to ensure passage last night.
Among the highlights:
1) Enacting a new Community Benefits Agreement that will attach strings to public subsidies for development projects.
- Context: A new CBA has long been a pet project of Council President Blaine Griffin.
2) Authorizing the department of community development to provide gap financing for shovel-ready housing projects.
- Context: In October, City Council allocated the federal pandemic relief funds for this purpose.
- More than 90 projects totaling more than $160 million applied for $34 million in available funds.
- Councilwoman Jenny Spencer said she'd be willing to sponsor legislation to dedicate additional resources to worthy projects that miss the cut.
3) Establishing a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) on East 4th Street between Euclid and Prospect.
- Context: One of Cleveland's premiere downtown entertainment districts would be exempt from state open container laws.
4) Contracting with the firm Econsult Solutions to provide an economic development analysis of Burke Lakefront Airport.
- Context: The question of whether to close Burke has bedeviled administrations before Mayor Justin Bibb's, but the current analysis would be the first to map the economic ramifications of converting the prime lakefront real estate to other uses.
5) Entering an agreement with the Sustainable Ohio Public Energy Council (SOPEC) for electric power supply and aggregation.
- Context: FirstEnergy customers will see price hikes on their electric bills in June and July before new SOPEC rates take effect in August.