Some new noise walls being installed along Route 2 in Mentor may need repainted already, changes are coming to the construction at Route 615, and the city has given out nearly a million bucks in Mentor Incentive Grants for economic development projects last year.

Those items and more in the latest Mentor City manager memo to City Council:

Engineering and Building Department
• State Route 2 Widening and Reconstruction: In approximately two weeks, Center Street construction will be shifted from work on the center bridge piers to the western side of the roadway. This work will close the southbound curb lane from north of Bellflower Road to near the Sunoco Gas Station driveway. Through traffic will be maintained using the left-turn lane under the bridge, which will become a shared left/through lane. Noise wall construction west of Center Street is scheduled to be complete in approximately two weeks. The remaining noise wall to the east should be installed by some time in August. Due to irregularities in the coloring of the noise wall, the front of the noise walls will be power washed and repainted by the contractor. Final grading behind the noise walls should occur within the next week to permit drainage as per the original design.
• On mainline SR2, on or about May 15, traffic will be switched to the newly paved center lanes to permit removal and reconstruction of the outer lanes.  Work is expected to be completed this construction season.  The westbound third lane for traffic is scheduled to be opened for vehicles west of SR 615 in late June.
• Due to recent unannounced lane closures occurring on Heisley Road and Center Street, the city has asked to be notified in advance of potential lane closures. The contractor has indicated that they will try to give notice in the future.

Fire Department
• On April at 12:49 a.m., paramedics from Station 3 responded to 7085 Mentor Ave. for a 43-year-old female in full-arrest. Bystanders initiated CPR within two minutes. On fire department’s arrival, new CCR protocols were initiated. Advanced Life Support drugs were administered en-route to Lake West.  Patient converted to rhythm that could be defibrillated, one shock was administered that converted patient to a normal sinus rhythm.
• On April 9, fire personnel from Station 3 responded to a reported bomb threat at Denny’s on Mentor Avenue.  Police cleared the building, no device found, fire department units returned to service.
• On April 11, fire department personnel responded to Mentor Lumber on Carpenter Drive for a structure fire. On arrival, there was light smoke with fire reported in a wood shavings/dust collector. Fire units extinguished fire within minutes and overhauled the dust collector. The cause of the fire was determined to be lack of cleaning/maintenance.  Fire loss is estimated to be about $3,000. Fire was under control within nine minutes and units were cleared from the scene within an hour. Fire Prevention is working to restore the fire alarm to normal. 

Police Department
• A female was stopped for suspicion of drinking and driving. Passengers in her vehicle included her 9-month-old and 4-year-old children. The officer administered several field sobriety tests, which she failed. She was arrested and charged with OVI and child endangering. Her breath alcohol content was over two times the legal limit.
• There was an accident on April 11 at 3:50 a.m. at 8019 Grovewood Dr. A vehicle, being driven by a 19-year-old male, drove off the road and struck four cars parked in the driveway of 8019 Grovewood. The suspect’s vehicle flipped over and landed on its roof. The driver, suspected of drinking and driving, was not seriously injured but was taken to the hospital. He was later charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, reckless operation, no driver’s license and not wearing a seatbelt.

Finance Department
• Mentor Incentive Grant (MIG) checks were issued for 11 companies that met the MIG Agreement requirements during 2011. The total of these checks equaled $924,000.

Manager Comments 
• Council members may recall the city negotiated and entered into an agreement with Clear Wireless, LLC (“Clearwire”) in October of 2010 to lease a portion of city property adjacent to the Civic Center Arena to erect a cellular communications tower. The terms of the agreement allow for an 18 month Due Diligence period within which Clearwire can terminate the lease without penalty.  I received notice this week that they are exercising the option to terminate indicating that the site is not “appropriate for Clearwire’s intended use.”  Bob Martin will follow up to see if he can learn anything more. The city originally got Clearwire interested in our property to avoid a much less desirable location at a residential site.
• State Auditor Dave Yost was in Lake County Tuesday morning for a press conference to announce the efforts to date of the Lake County Capital Equipment Utilization Study, which is a pilot program aimed at assisting local governments to find ways to better share underutilized capital assets. Dave Malinowski and I attended and we had a chance to have a few moments alone with the Auditor to talk about his office’s interaction with the City. I also encouraged him to consider looking for ways to make state-owned equipment (such as from ODOT) available for use by local communities as part of the pilot program. He indicated he would look into the possibility.
• This week, the City received a copy of the 2011 Bridge Inspection Report prepared by the County Engineer for bridges in Mentor. The report is thorough and does not indicate any degradation in condition of any bridge since last year. The City Engineer is reviewing the results in detail.
• I received a letter from Lake County Auditor Ed Zupancic notifying the City that the Lake County Budget Commission has assigned April 24 for the first organizational meeting for the committee that will review an alternate formula for the Local Government Fund distribution. The committee is being asked by the Budget Commission to make a recommendation to them by July 2.

Parks and Recreation Department
• Buried electrical issues were detected on A and D docks while going through the preseason checks. The problems on both docks have been located and resolved as of this week. Marina Manager Dave George and his crew have also repaired all the street lights within the Marina compound so they are ready for the boating season.
• The staff at the Civic Arena has been planning for summer as well. The Arena will shut down during the month of May for annual repair and maintenance before bringing the West rink back up and filling the East rink with summer campers. The staff has also planned an extra week of summer camp this year to accommodate the school calendar. The camp is going to be called the “Summers Last Hurrah” and will be a week of fun activities and trips.
• Civic Arena Manager Terri Rosenwald and Public Works Supervisor David Ritz are working on the replacement of the lights over the ice rinks. The pricing is in for the replacement fixtures which will produce more light, less heat, less shadowing and operate at a lower cost. Each of the 68 fixtures will be eligible for a substantial rebate from FirstEnergy, thanks to Grants Coordinator Abe Bruckman’s hard work.
• Black Brook Golf Course suffered some vandalism over the past week.Elsewhere on the golf course the Practice Center bunkers have all been put in place and it will be ready for the Grand Opening May 5. Golf Course Greenskeeper Mark Floyd and Assistant Greenskeeper John Shemitz have been out working on the bunkers on the course getting them edged and starting to refill them with sand. 

Economic and Community Development
• Tom Thielman & Ron Traub met with Cliff Somerville of Lake Erie College regarding the City’s import-export initiative.
• MEACO is preparing closing documents for various SBA 504 loans and recently approved a $16,000 Mentor Small Business Loan for a Mentor landscaping company. The funds will be used for gap financing in the purchase of machinery and equipment.
• MEACO is once again sponsoring the Small Business Symposium – Road to Success at Lakeland Community College. The full day event is being held Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and includes sessions on Marketing & Sales, Professional/Personal Development, Entrepreneurial Skills and Technology.

Public Works Department
• The Public Works activity highlights this week were:  Park Maintenance – baseball and soccer fields are striped and ready; Civic Center Pool – shower repairs and door replacement is 50% complete; Blackbrook Golf Course – Driving Range improvements are complete; Crack sealed Mentor Ave. from Mentor Mall. (west entrance) to Plaza Blvd. and Plaza Blvd. from Mentor Ave. to Johnnycake Ridge Rd.; Stop sign reflectivity upgrades and mapping – ongoing; Traffic signal upgrade at Rt. 306 and Tyler Blvd. is complete; Broadmoor Road – cleaned all inlet basins from Mentor Ave. to Johnnycake; Basin Repairs – Reynolds by Ohio, Hoover and Chablis complete; 7590 Ruth – clean and repair storm sewer; and 5881 S. Shandle – redefine ditch – complete.

-- Betsy Scott, BScott@News-Herald.com, @ReporterBetsy