Councilman’s Corner
It’s officially Fall and my sincere appreciation for all of you who supported all the events we had this summer especially the Euclid Beach Live concerts and the most recent clambakes that many of our neighborhood organizations have held. If you missed any of them it is still not too late for the VASJ Clambake which is Fri., October 19th starting at 6:00 PM, for tickets call Fred at (216) 481- 633-0692; St. Casimir’s Clambake is Sat., October 27, for tickets call (216) 481-3157. Both of these bakes are excellent, for I had attended both of them over the years. It goes without saying, let’s support our neighborhood groups and events.
As I reported last month, the Euclid Beach pier project is moving right along. In fact, I try to visit the site daily. The approach sidewalks have been poured and access steps are being installed at this time. The pier project has been a long time goal of mine since I can recall the original pier and what it meant to the community. What is unique about this design is that it will be handicapped accessible and augment the piers at the mouth of Euclid Creek. Once again, my sincere appreciation to our partners, the Cleveland Metroparks, in making this important project a reality.
As I reported previously, the Collinwood Nottingham Villages Development Corporation (CNVDC) has enlarged its geographical territory and now encompasses all of North Shore Collinwood, the Collinwood and Nottingham Villages area and the Euclid Green community. I am encouraging anyone who would like to become a part of our community’s development activities to become engaged with CNVDC. The may be reached at (216) 383-9772. Their goal is to create one Greater Collinwood development corporation that looks beyond neighborhood boundaries to incorporate all ideas, thoughts and goals. We have many talented residents in our ward who have a whole host of skills and expertise. CNVDC needs your time and talents to become the best development corporation it can be.
We continue to be engaged with the Cuyahoga County Landbank in dealing with abandoned and derelict properties which have finally come into the hands of the County through the foreclosure process. As I have reported before, this has been a serious problem, not only in our community but city-wide. We need to target these properties for redevelopment or demolition. I find, far too often, properties which have become an eyesore or nuisance, are substantially delinquent in property taxes. I ask, “why” when all of us who own property are required to pay our taxes every year; yet, the “worst of the worst” go delinquent for years with no foreclosure action being initiated by the County. This has to change.
On that note, one of the biggest industrial eyesores we have is located 12735 Kirby Road, off of Eddy Road, in the East Glenville neighborhood. Finally, the Cuyahoga County Landbank was able to take possession of the 4-story 200,000+ square foot building and enter into a contract with Level 5 Global Corporate Consultants to redevelop the site into a Hemp Manufacturing facility. The process will entail taking the fibers of the hemp plant and turning them into a multitude of different products ranging from plastics, oils, hempcrete and more.
I will be the first to tell you that I was ecstatic when Mr. Ty Williams from Level 5 along with Rev. Theo Caviness, of Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church, first approached me about their vision for the abandoned plant. Since that initial meeting and subsequent others, I came to the realization that if this proposal works it could lead to the entire redevelopment of the Eddy / Kirby Road Industrial area, which is approximately 200 acres, and at one time, one of the largest employment bases for the Glenville and Collinwood neighborhoods. Let’s hope their vision becomes a reality and we can start to see employment opportunities, present themselves for our greater community. Stay tuned for future updates on a project that could be transformative and unique.
I don’t have to tell anyone about the growing concern we all have regarding gun violence in our city. When elderly residents are beaten to death in their own homes, as we have seen recently in Slavic Village, and when children are caught in the crossfire of gun-packing thugs, something is terribly wrong, and we should all be outraged. It is up to all of us to be the eyes and ears on each of our streets and to set the tone in our community that, we will not tolerate this type of behavior.
I, once again, call upon the City Administration, to realize that until additional CPD Officers are put out into the streets we need additional help from the Ohio Highway patrol or the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office, to step up patrols in our neighborhoods city-wide to augment basic police patrols. There is no substitution for law enforcement officers in the neighborhood. Citizens can help greatly, as we all know, but at the end of the day, to prevent crimes from happening you need police visibility and engagement. Time will tell shortly whether the Administration will respond to the growing concerns city-wide. We need our neighborhood police mini-stations back in the community.
Meetings have begun in earnest with the City of Euclid, Cuyahoga County Planning, Cleveland City Planning, CNVDC, and my office pertaining to the East 185th Street streetscape project. CNVDC will now be the local CDC engaged in this project. The plan is to break the project into three sections due to the length of the street at nearly two miles. The first phase is tentatively set for the section from Nauman Ave / Canterbury Road north to the lake, which will be the first area to undergo construction. In addition, there are discussions taking place on how the planned East 185th Street storm sewer project will be integrated into the streetscape project. The redevelopment of East 185th Street is critical to our greater community and the City of Euclid. We are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on this long-awaited project. Watch for future updates.
The new O. H. Perry Elementary School project is really coming into its own and we are still set for the students to transfer to the new school after Christmas Break, if everything goes according to schedule and weather permitting. The new O.H. Perry School is critical in repositioning the Cleveland Metropolitan School District in North Shore Collinwood. This school on Schenely and Memorial Elementary on East 152 Street were both positioned to provide the best locations and facilities for the children and families who live in the northeastern portion of our community. We need to support our local schools, whether they are public, parochial or private.
Halloween will be upon us at the end of the month. The Big City Boo is being planned for the Collinwood Recreation Center on Halloween, October 31. The 5th District Police will also have their haunted district festivities that evening. Watch for the actual times. I help sponsor both of these events. We want our children to have a safe and fun-filled Halloween.
Please feel free to contact me. I may be reached at my office at (216) 664-4236 or via email at mpolensek@clevelandcitycouncil.org.