OPWC funding to be awarded for emergency Riverview Road repairs

by Melissa Martin

Sept. 5 city council meeting

Brecksville City Council approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to submit an Ohio Public Works Commission State Capital Improvement and Local Transportation Improvement application to provide funding to repair the Riverview Road slope failure.

City Engineer Gerry Wise told council that after the most recent slope failure on Riverview Road Aug. 15, the city received preliminary approval of OPWC funds and will formally apply for the grant. He said the estimated $300,000 project will be 90% ($270,000) funded by the state. The remaining 10% will be paid by the city.

Once funds are awarded, Wise said the city plans to begin construction in early spring and wants to start paving as soon as local asphalt plants open in April.

“In the meantime, we will do what we can and work to divert the water,” Wise said, noting that one lane of the road will be kept open. To accomplish that, council authorized the purchase of two portable traffic signals on Sept. 5 at a cost of $65,000.

Glenwood Trail complaints

Mayor Jerry Hruby told council he received a petition Sept. 5 signed by several Glenwood Trail residents decrying the lack of a police presence.

“They are specifically concerned about speeders traveling up and down the street,” he said.

Hruby said residents are concerned that speeding will be an ongoing issue now that the road has been improved.

“They are afraid that the improvements will lead to faster speeds, more speeders and they have growing concerns for bicyclists and pedestrians for their safety,” Hruby said.

In the letter to the city, Glenview Trail residents requested that streetlights, proper signage and speed bumps be installed on the roadway. Hruby said it is not “the city’s policy” to put speed bumps on a street such as Glenview.

“The assertion is that we’ve not been responsive, both the police department and the office of the mayor,” he said. “First of all, I would just comment that for many, many months now the road has been closed to traffic, except for local traffic.  Based on that, can we say then that the ones violating the speeds are their own residents that live there?”

Residents of the street argue that the speeders mostly are non-residents. Hruby said he’s uncertain how residents determined that.

“I guess they feel that any car driving through the neighborhood may be a non-resident if they’re not going to one of the houses,” Hruby said.

Hruby said when police have run radar details in other areas, officers have found that “some of the residents that live in the neighborhood are the ones who are really doing the speeding.”

Hruby told council he plans to respond to the petition once he and Police Chief Stan Korinek review the department’s radar enforcement records and all citations that have been issued in the area.

As of Sept. 5, Hruby said the city has not completed all signage or lighting in the neighborhood. However, he said discussions regarding both are still underway.

“We will be addressing that, and I can assure council that we will come up with a response for the public, and we will individually write letters to each homeowner with that response,” he said.

Historic hills program

Hruby informed council the city is launching a new sign program throughout the community, much like the city did in Old Town, pointing out historic places.

As part of the venture, he said, the city intends to place signs located on historic hills.

“When I first became an officer in our police department many years ago, many of the areas in town were referred to by a specific hill. … We all knew what that meant and where to go,” Hruby said.

To make sure those locations and families who lived there aren’t forgotten, Hruby said the city will work closely with the Brecksville Historical Association and the families that lived on the properties.

The first of those locations, he said, is Murawski Hill. Hruby said the Murawski family recently donated to city hall framed photos of the family along with pictures of the farm.

The second location, Hruby said, is Perry Hill, named for the Perry family.

“Mr. Perry was a longtime teacher, janitor and ran the gristmill when the family owned that for a period of time,” Hruby said. “His daughter was married to the first mayor of Brecksville, Bert Harris.’’

The third and final location is Lollipop Hill, where Mayor Wade McConnell resided.

“Lollipop Hill was the hill in his front yard that was in part taken away by the state Route 82 widening. … It’s the area of greenspace along 82 and Highland in Old Highland.”

Time capsule placement

Also of historic note, Hruby said, on Tuesday, Sept. 26, at 5 p.m., the city will re-place the 1971 cornerstone time capsule removed last year from city hall.

“We’re adding some items to bring it up to date, and it will be opened again 50 years from now,’’ he said. “ So we’ll be leaving some things to that government and those people in the 50-year mark which will be the 100th anniversary.”

Hruby said the public is invited, and noted that speakers will address why the time capsule is placed where it is. ∞