University Heights council approves multiple administrative contracts and appointment

At its May 1 meeting, University Heights City Council approved several administrative and procurement items, including a cloud-server purchase, a lease extension for annex office space, a pavement-marking contract and a council appointment to the Community Improvement Corporation.

Finance Director Dennis Kennedy recommended purchasing cloud server services from Software Solutions in an amount not to exceed $19,110 to replace a shared-server arrangement and to allow automatic updates. Kennedy said the one-time integration charge was $18,000 and that the city expects savings versus a prior $25,000 annual software-support cost. "This will be a win-win for everybody," Kennedy said, citing improved reliability and alignment with the IT project recently authorized by council.

Council authorized a one-year lease extension for Suite 105 at 2245 Warrensville Center Road (Spalding Leasing Office) from June 1, 2023 through May 31, 2024 at $1,638 per month upon a motion by Sheri Sax, seconded by Michele Weiss; the motion passed on a 4-0 roll-call vote.

City Engineer Joseph Ciuni presented the 2023 pavement-marking bids after remeasuring quantities; Pat Flowers Inc. submitted the lower bid and council approved a contract not to exceed $56,131.15. Vice Mayor Weiss noted the city saved approximately $30,000 compared with last year.

Vice Mayor Weiss moved, with a second from Barbara Blankfeld, to appoint John Rach to the Council-appointed Community Improvement Corporation to fill a vacancy resulting from the recent death of Mr. Gould; the motion passed unanimously.