Council committee approves contract extension for crisis responders, park restrooms, land transfers, composting lease and other measures

A Cleveland City Council Committee of Finance, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion on March 31 approved a package of emergency ordinances and contract amendments covering crisis-response services, public restrooms, land transfers for redevelopment, a ground lease for a composting operator, training for solid-waste staff, sale of air rights over Eagle Avenue for a Bedrock project, and authority to accept apprenticeship grants and communications consulting extensions.

The most immediate item was an amendment to the city's contract with Murtis Taylor Human Services System to continue neighborhood-based crisis support and mental-health services. Chief Sonia Pryor Jones told the committee the partnership began in 2023 after the city found residents affected by violent incidents faced delays when they had to seek help through phone-based systems; bringing trauma-informed resources into neighborhoods addressed that gap. "Since that time, they've served over 2,000 residents across the city of Cleveland," Chief Pryor Jones said. A representative for Murtis Taylor stated the organization had leveraged about $1,400,000 in additional funding from state and county sources to support the work. The ordinance (No. 244-2025) was approved as an emergency measure.

The committee also accepted a donation of three Portland Loo permanent public-restroom structures from Campus District, Inc., to be installed and maintained by the city. Abby Henry of the mayor's office described the units'features — stainless-steel construction, anti-graffiti coating, louvers to indicate occupancy, and pipe heaters for winter use — and said the city plans routine cleaning three times daily (twice on Sundays). The donation supplies one unit for Perk Park and two units planned for Canal Basin Park. Committee members asked about maintenance, utility hookups and safety mitigation (blue lighting, site cameras); staff said anticipated maintenance cost is about $1,600 per month per unit and each unit's appraised value is approximately $150,000. Ordinance No. 1062-2024 was approved.

On land and redevelopment, the committee approved an emergency ordinance transferring 25 parcels in the former police-headquarters area on Opportunity Corridor from the Community Development Land Bank to the Industrial/Commercial Land Bank to streamline future conveyances and site preparation (Ordinance No. 231-2025, as amended). The legislation was amended on the floor of the committee to add a condition requiring any future grantee to reimburse the Department of Public Safety up to $536,542.09 for site remediation as a condition precedent to conveyance; the amendment was noted in the committee's legal review memo.

The committee approved a proposed ground lease with Rust Belt Riders Composting LLC to consolidate and expand composting operations at a roughly six-acre city parcel on East 70th/70 Ninth. Members amended the ordinance to remove a specific street address and substitute the city's parcel number (125-16-003) to avoid confusion with adjacent private property; they also required that any subleasing and any subsequent lease renewals receive legislative approval. Economic development staff said the lease would be a triple-net arrangement at fair-market rent, and the facility would reduce the city's hauling and disposal burden by diverting food waste and lowering greenhouse-gas emissions. Ordinance No. 40-2025 was approved as amended.

Public-works and operations items approved included an emergency ordinance authorizing the director of public works to contract with the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) for supervisory and driver training, amended to cap spending at $75,000 (Ordinance No. 21-2025). The training program, staff said, will provide certification courses on municipal solid-waste collection, transfer-station management, fleet management and recycling systems to standardize practices and reduce injuries. Committee members emphasized career pipelines and upward mobility for seasonal hires.

The committee also approved an amendment authorizing the mayor's capital projects director to sell city-owned air rights above Scranton Road (also known as Eagle Avenue) to Bedrock for the Cleveland Clinic Global Performance Center. Capital projects staff said the parcel will be sold at appraised value of $120,000 and that Bedrock will be responsible for maintenance and subject to city inspection under an agreement similar to a bridge inspection/maintenance structure (Ordinance No. 251-2025).

Additional measures cleared the committee: authority to accept apprenticeship grants and other funding for apprenticeship pipelines pursued by several departments (Ordinance No. 323-2025), and an extension to a communications audit contract with JS Strategies LLC to complete a second phase focused on branding and council communications (Ordinance No. 227-2025). Committee members asked staff to provide counts and targets for apprenticeship positions; staff said three departments have expressed interest and that they will provide numbers.

Committee members noted ongoing concerns and follow-ups: ensuring maintenance and public-safety plans for the Portland Loos (including Narcan availability and panic-response planning), confirming whether frontline community responders are duplicated by other city or county programs, monitoring odor and leachate controls for the composting operation, and tracking economic benefits and residual revenue associated with the Bedrock development. Councilmembers also said they will press the county and state to align social-service funding responsibilities and to improve tax-collection outcomes that affect regional funding.

Votes at a glance (committee action; individual roll-call tallies were not recorded in the transcript): - Ordinance 244-2025 (amend contract: Murtis Taylor Human Services System) — approved (emergency). - Ordinance 231-2025 as amended (transfer parcels to Economic Development/Industrial-Commercial Land Bank) — approved (emergency). - Ordinance 1062-2024 (accept donation: three Portland Loos) — approved (emergency). - Ordinance 21-2025 as amended (SWANA training contract; cap $75,000) — approved (emergency). - Ordinance 40-2025 as amended (ground lease to Rust Belt Riders; parcel 125-16-003; no sublease without legislative approval; renewals require legislative approval) — approved (emergency). - Ordinance 251-2025 (sale of air rights to Bedrock; $120,000 appraised purchase) — approved (emergency). - Ordinance 323-2025 (add apprenticeship grants to authority to accept fellowship/intern grants) — approved (emergency). - Ordinance 227-2025 (amend agreement with JS Strategies LLC for council communications audit) — approved (emergency).

The committee closed by noting a separate resolution and letter planned for full council urging state and federal officials to restore food-assistance funding cut by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Ohio budget, a measure councilmembers said they will present at the evening council session.