SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- As one of the casualties of the Sept. 13 microburst storm, a felled three-century-old white oak tree will be getting new life and further preservation.
Located off of South Park Boulevard at Lower Shaker Lake, the oak had recently been commemorated by the city, only to wind up among the many trees damaged or destroyed as the storm cell swept through.
The park was closed last week for roughly 10 days as city crews continued their storm cleanup, or, in this case, recovery operation.
"Thanks to the coordinated efforts of the city, Doan Brook Watershed Partnership and the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, sections of this historic natural wonder will be preserved," the city's "October E-News" announced.
Plans call for the watershed partnership to auction off sections of the white oak as a fundraiser to help plant more trees.
“A large log will be placed at the Nature Center to honor the mighty oak, and the city will leave 1 to 2 feet of the stump in place for children (or adults) to count the rings,” the city e-news added, with further details to be released soon.
The community has had previous success with larger-scale fundraisers, such as the online sale of discarded city street signs in recent years; those proceeds netted more than $100,000 for the Shaker Schools Foundation.
New Solon jail contract extension
In addition to honoring police, firefighters and public works crews at its Sept. 23 meeting, City Council also approved an amended agreement to continue housing prisoners at the Solon jail for two more years, at the current annual cost of $229,200. The contract runs through the end of 2021.
It works out to about $76 a day per prisoner, compared to the $100 cost at the Cuyahoga County jail facilities. The savings allows Shaker to put an officer back on patrol, Police Chief Jeffrey DeMuth noted.
An original three-year agreement was approved in October 2015 at a rate of $264,000 a year, followed by a 14-month renegotiated contract at the reduced price.
Councilman Tres Roeder called it “a great example of regionalization that has saved the city $85,000 so far and put an additional officer back on the street.”
Housing demolition funds lined up
Council also approved a $65,000 allocation for possible demolition of five to seven vacant and abandoned homes in the city through the Housing Nuisance Abatement Fund.
City Housing Commissioner Bill Hanson said the funding can be used as leverage with property owners -- individuals, companies or banks -- to further compel them toward repairing the houses in question rather than tearing them down.
Since 2012, Shaker has received three separate awards through the Cuyahoga County Demolition Fund totaling more than $2 million, with 155 houses and eight commercial buildings razed as a result, either by the city or by the county Land Bank.
And a fourth round of funding from the county, good for another $400,000, is also on the way. Although the good news at this point is that the city no longer has that many candidates, some of the county money is for reimbursements to the city.
While there has been some pushback from affected communities, Hanson anticipates that this could be the last round of demolition funding, as the county shifts its focus to renovation of remaining housing stock.
Grant for South Woodland-Warrensville intersection
Council also authorized the Planning Department to apply for up to a $200,000 grant through the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency for improvements to the intersection at South Woodland and Warrensville Center roads.
It is right along the lines of the funding approved earlier this year through the Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative (TLCI) for the Warrensville-Shaker Boulevard intersection to the immediate north.
The proposed work would include:
• Reduction of side street movements to optimize traffic flows
• Revising lane configurations within existing pavement
• Increasing left-turn storage lanes
• Installing a new signal controller
• Crosswalk improvements
Citing the previous approval from NOACA at Warrensville-Shaker, where work should get under way next year, Councilman Sean Malone said he remains “optimistic that the same will happen at this intersection as well.”
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