Councilman's Corner

A lot of good things have transpired since my last writing. As I am sure you have heard, on April 22, Cleveland City Council passed two pieces of critical legislation, unanimously; one authorizing the City to take back the lakefront parks from the State along with Villa Angela Beach and the second was to enter into a 99-year Lease with the Cleveland MetroParks to operate Euclid Beach, Villa Angela Beach and Wildwood Park, along with other lakefront properties, as a part of the MetroParks’ System. Also, the Wildwood Wetlands Project is virtually complete and we are all looking forward to a great summer along our lakefront parks.   

This is great news for our neighborhood and it has been something which I have lobbied and worked for for several years.  We are on the verge of not only connecting the entire lakefront but connecting our neighborhood to the Euclid Creek Reservation with a defined bike path, thereby adding another critical link to the “Emerald Necklace.”

MetroParks’ administration should be well in-place by July 1, 2013. No doubt it will take time to get a handle on maintenance and capital repairs.  However, MetroParks has assured me that Safety and Security issues are the immediate Top Priority. This is great news and we all look forward to working with an outstanding partner such as the MetroParks System.

My thanks to all who helped bring this about including Mayor Jackson, State Representative Bill Patmon, ODNR, and the Board of Commissioners of the MetroParks System including the Appointing Authority, the Honorable Judge Anthony Russo. This is a great victory for our community.

The rebuilding and resurfacing of Lakeshore Boulevard will start up once again as soon as the two last sewer connections are completed, one near the Recreation Center and the other just west of East 150th Street. My thanks to all who have had to endure driving Lakeshore Boulevard during this much needed sewer rebuilding process. The work on the Euclid Creek Tunnel Project is proceeding on schedule toward our goal of a much cleaner Euclid Creek and lakefront.

Demolition continues for the Nottingham Village Commerce Park along St Clair Avenue with groundbreaking for the Cleveland Range headquarters’ building planned sometime in early Summer; if everything goes according to construction schedule.

My thanks to Northeast Shores Development Corporation for helping to organize a very successful meeting for the East 185th Street Stakeholder’s held on Monday, April 29.  The message was sent loud and clear, from not only my office but from Euclid Officials as well, that we need the merchants and property owners on East 185th Street to step up to the plate and become real stakeholders in the corridor.  Only then will we see the improvements that our community has long desired to see come to fruition. East 185th Street has great opportunities and we need to maximize that potential – NOW!

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Volume 5, Issue 4, Posted 2:42 PM, 05.08.2013