The View from Ward 2: Issue #11

Health and Human Services Committee Meeting

Last Monday, prior to the council meeting, I attended the Health & Human Services Committee Meeting. We discussed the emergency planning that is occurring within the City and we received an extensive briefing from Cuyahoga County Health Commissioner Terry Allen. The full briefing can be viewed here.

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City Council Meeting

The coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the residents of Lakewood weighed heavily on our minds during last week’s Council Meeting. There are several items of note from the meeting. First, we amended Section 121.03 of our ordinances to allow City Council to cancel or postpone a regular council meeting in case of an emergency and/or to limit public attendance when there is a state of emergency. Previously, there was no authority to alter the Council meeting schedule but, in light of the pandemic and related social distancing guidelines, we felt that this revision was necessary. Your participation is vital and Council ensured that the ordinance requires live streaming of meetings in the event that public access is limited and that interaction by the public in such situations is to be provided when practicable.

Former Planning Director Bryce Sylvester (more on this later) and Mayor Meghan George provided Council with an update on the former Lakewood Hospital Site and the One Lakewood Place project. Mayor George informed us that the developer and the City are currently in negotiations regarding bridging a potential financial gap that the developer has identified. I am working hard to get more information regarding this issue and will provide updates once I learn more.

This meeting was also former Director Bryce Sylvester’s last, as he recently resigned from his position. Mr. Sylvester started with the City as an intern and worked his way up to eventually being appointed Director of Planning & Development in December of 2016. His innovative and community centered approach has benefited Lakewood in an untold number of ways. We will miss his great work, but he should be proud of his legacy and the tremendous impact that he has made on our city. Best of luck to Mr. Sylvester in his future endeavors.

We received a communication from City Engineer Mark Papke regarding planned improvements to Detroit Avenue and its intersection with Sloane Avenue/Valley Parkway to Gaber Drive. This is a $2.5 million project, with more than half being funded by the Ohio Department of Transportation. We were informed that the planned improvements intend to:

1) provide better and safer pedestrian/bicyclist access into the Rocky River Reservation (Cleveland Metroparks);
2) increase safety for pedestrians/bicyclist by reducing the crosswalk lengths across Detroit at the Sloane/Rocky River Reservation intersection and adding a crosswalk on the western side of the intersection;
3) remove the center island at the eastern end of the project area to provide safer and wider lanes;
4) provide attractive transit waiting areas for the entertainment district at Detroit and Graber, the GCRTA station, and the Rocky River Reservation;
5) aesthetically improve the gateway into Lakewood; and
6) replace the deteriorated pavement in-kind.

This represents a real opportunity to turn this intersection into a gateway to the Metroparks system. We are excited for this project and will work diligently to ensure that we get the best product for Lakewood.

Ian Andrews, Executive Director of LakewoodAlive, and Patty Ryan, President of the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce, provided us with vital information on how our business community is weathering this storm. They were able to survey a number of business owners to determine their most urgent needs and such information will assist in targeting our response. I encourage you to visit https://www.lakewoodalive.org/... where you will find resources to assist you if you own a small business or if you want to support Lakewood’s small businesses. For a full list of restaurants and retailers that are selling gift cards or serving take out/delivery please click here.

You can watch the Council Meeting here.

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Emergency Council Meeting

An Emergency Council Meeting was held on Thursday, March 19th. This meeting was held to provide the Mayor with authority, on a case-by-case basis, to extend pay and benefits to employees for the duration of this state of emergency. Council agreed that we should do everything we can to mitigate the effects of this pandemic on the City’s workforce and we unanimously approved the ordinance that provided this emergency authority.

You can watch the Emergency Council Meeting here.

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Stay at Home Order

Sunday afternoon, Governor DeWine issued an order for Ohioans to stay at home. I encourage you to read the Order for details about who is required to stay home and what activities are permitted. There is a long list of "essential businesses and operations" that are exempt, which starts on page 5 of the Order. The Order beings at 11:59pm on Monday

Read the Stay at Home Order here.

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