Medina City Council discusses rec center sex offender ordinance

Cub Scouts leading Pledge of Allegiance at Medina City Council meeting

Members of Cub Scout Pack 3507 from First Christian Church and and Pack 3514 from Prince of Peace Lutheran Church visited Medina City Council Jan. 13 and led the Pledge of Allegiance. (Allison Wood, special to cleveland.com)

MEDINA, Ohio -- City Council on Monday (Jan. 13) discussed formalizing a policy concerning sex offenders who try to enter the Medina Community Recreation Center.

Mike Wright, recreation center director, said anyone entering the center must present a photo ID, which is run through a database of convicted sex offenders.

City Law Director Greg Huber said he spoke with other law directors with recreation centers and now thinks this department policy should become a city ordinance.

The photo ID policy was first enacted in 2012. The recreation center previously had a policy on addressing those who were identified as sex offenders.

Since then, Wright said, about 20 people have been turned away from both the recreation center and Memorial Pool. In these cases, a manager speaks to the individual privately to review the policy before ordering him or her to leave.

Wright said they haven’t had any confrontations during these incidents, but that police would be called if there was an issue.

Mayor Dennis Hanwell said similar policies are used at many recreation centers, but Medina is in a special position because the recreation center is attached to Medina High School.

“We are also being very protective of our students and staff members,” he said.

The policy was approved by council in Finance Committee and will be voted on again at a future council-of-the-whole meeting.

Trail grant

The city has received a nearly $200,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources toward constructing .42 miles of a 10-foot-wide trail on East Reagan Parkway, from Larkens Way to North Court Street.

Hanwell said this trail will connect the Lake Medina path that starts off of Medina Road in Medina Township to the city’s business district. The project will cost about $260,000 altogether.

South Broadway bids

Council members approved going out for bids on the project to reconstruct the brick roadway on South Broadway Street between Lafayette Road and Grant Street. City Engineer Patrick Patton said the project’s cost is increasing by approximately $116,000 to around $1.34 million.

The additional cost is due to the county wishing to replace the sanitary sewer lines and will come from county funds.

Water rates

Council also voted to approve fee increases to water bills from Avon Lake Water Regional Water, effective July 1.

Council President John Coyne said that since the city approved going with Avon Lake water 13 years ago, the base rate has gone up 79.65 percent.

Keith Dirham, finance director, said many of the fee increases passed on to customers involve funding new Environmental Protection Agency requirements for things such as water testing, some of which were put into effect a few years ago after the troubles with the system in Flint, Mich.

Recently, water rates have increased between 2.5 percent and 5 percent annually. In July 2020, the base rate will increase 3 percent from $14.80 to $15.43.

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