The Euclid Beach Adopt-a-Beach™ Team supports a Cleveland Metroparks Lakefront Park

Adopt-a-Beach is a volunteer organization and subsidiary of the Alliance for The Great Lakes, a Chicago based non-profit dedicated to sustaining and improving the health of our lakes and beaches. Each month our team conducts beach clean-ups and monitors bacteria counts. The data is utilized by the Alliance to secure grant funding to target beach/water quality issues. What we can surmise from our data collection at Euclid Beach thus far is that our lakefront parks face a number of challenges from improper waste disposal/management to high levels of bacteria in the water. 

Recently, there has been discussion over the termination of the City of Cleveland’s lease of the Cleveland Lakefront Park system to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Earlier last month, we read several of your articles about Councilman Polensek resolution supporting a proposal for the acquisition of the Cleveland Lakefront  Park system by the Cleveland Metroparks. The Euclid Beach Team fully supports this proposal. The Cleveland Metroparks is a time-tested organization and its management of the Emerald Necklace park system is nothing short of excellent. We cite Huntington Beach Park as an example of the Metroparks’ ability to bring the same excellence to the lakefront. The Metroparks has the financial and personnel resources to dedicate to the physical upkeep and improvement of the lakefront parks, unlike the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, which faces a number of budget shortfalls and cuts. The Metroparks recently appointed CEO Brian Zimmerman, who is an expert in the acquisition and utilization of lakefront park property.

Our team wants to support what is best for our beaches, our lakefront and our city. Few cities in the world could boast over seven miles of public coastline on one of the world’s most precious resources. Cleveland has untapped potential in its lakefront that other cities could only imagine. We urge you to show your support for Councilman Polensek’s resolution and to continue to keep the topic on the minds of casual readers and civic leaders alike.  aking action today will prove our lakefront parks a vital asset for years to come. 

 *For more information on how you can support a ClevelandMetroparks Lakefront, contact Councilman Mike Polensek at 216-664-4236 or e-mail council11@clevelandcitycouncil.org *For more information on how you can support a The Euclid Beach Adopt-a-Beach Team this spring/summer, contact Stephen Love at 216-571-0685 or e-mail slove@mail.bw.edu.   
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Volume 2, Issue 5, Posted 10:58 AM, 05.06.2010