Post-Meeting Notes

Thank you, everyone who attended our first Ward 4 meeting on Monday night. I am grateful for the continuing support of my "regulars" and was happy to see some new faces.

For those of you who missed it, here are a few bits of info from the meeting:

• The drilling noises that kept folks on East Antisdale and other areas near Oakwood Club should be gone by now. The Club was drilling four natural gas wells on their property, the southernmost part of which is in South Euclid. By the time people started calling me to complain about the ruckus, the work was finished. No, the city doesn't receive any license fees or income from the wells, the club is private property and a recent court ruling says cities don't have any say over where wells are drilled, nor are they considered a "public utility."

• Fire Chief Tom Cannell put out a call for volunteers to join the Citizen Corps, which trains and organizes volunteers to respond in case of disasters. One part involves Block Watches, another creates a Community Emergency Response Team, and the third part is a Medical Reserve Corps. Please call Cheryl McNulty at 216-291-0771 to join the team.

He also talked about bringing the fire trucks and crews out to block parties and other events to do public education, and about our partnership with surrounding communities that will give us faster responses to emergencies by allowing the closest fire station to respond, even if that station is in another city (for example, the University Heights station is closer to Cedar Center than our own South Euclid station.)

• Police Chief Matt Capadona talked about the newest member of the force, our new police dog, Recon, who joins our veteran canine Rex. The two will be sniffing (and snuffing) out crime. We'll also be seeing our bicycle patrols come spring, and more intense enforcement of nuisance violations.

He talked about how difficult it is to keep groups of kids under control, not knowing where they live, and how by the time the police can arrive the groups disperse. He says that if we know where the kids live, they can work with the parents, but that information has to come from us. He's also meeting with the school officials about after-school problems, and the city is considering reviving daytime curfews. More on that later. Also, there will be a police substation at the new Cedar Center when it's completed, so there will always be officers on site.

• Speaking of Cedar Center, Economic Development Director Cal Caminati said that the negotiations with the building owners over price is nearing completion. Once the paperwork is done and the sale documents are legal, we'll be breaking ground.

Mayor Welo has told me that her assistant, Lee Williams, has bought the big scissors to cut the ribbon, the developer will bring the big gold shovels for the groundbreaking ceremony, everyone's dusting off the hard hats, and they're getting ready to put up the ubiquitous big "Coming Soon!" sign.

Cal also mentioned the new Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins coming to the corner of Mayfield and Belvoir, the new Brews Brothers coffee shop at Mayfield/Green, and the fact that he's working with the owners of Young Israel to plan new residential development on their Cedar Road site. And as for the empty storefronts at the northwest corner of Mayfield and Green, it's actually a good thing...it means that the redevelopment of that corner into a shiny new lifestyle center (like the new Cedar Center is going to be) will be easier to do.

I, for one, would like to see someone use those empty windows to display the work of local businesses, artists, craftsmen, or student projects. Anyone interested in spearheading such an effort should call me.

• The Recycling Committee has announced that we are now accepting number 1 through 7 plastics, instead of just #1 and #2. Please Please Please recycle your paper...we make money on paper, and that income offsets the cost of recycling the plastic and glass.

Last but absolutely most importantly, we need to get the street clubs and Block Watches organized. I'd hoped to do it at the meeting, but not enough people showed up. So now I'll be contacting folks on individual streets. Please call me if you'll help.

Enough for now...enjoy the day.

Jane

Sunshine Today

Hi again.

I wanted to update you on miscellaneous bits and pieces...

WARD 4 MEETING - MARCH 20, 6 TO 9pm - ROWLAND SCHOOL GYM. Please come, and maybe give a ride to a neighbor!

The drilling at Oakwood Country Club should be finished by the time you read this. They've been sinking natural gas wells. They tell me there won't be noise when they operate. So they thank you for your incredible patience during the recent day and night pounding.

Four streets in Ward 4 will be getting the regular 3-year exterior home inspections - East Antisdale, Warrendale, Wyncote and Grosvenor. If you haven't received the letter from the housing department, or gotten the copy of that letter with the 4th Warder newsletter in your door, call me...216-291-0442.

The folks on East Antisdale are in a good news/bad news situation this year, but your patience and good humor will be rewarded. Now that the drilling noise is over, pretty soon we'll start tearing up the street to replace the sewers and the roadway. The home inspection will probably happen at about the same time, and then Warrensville repaving will happen. When it's all over, though, you'll have spiffy new streets and curbs, more effective sewers to keep water out of the basement, houses that look good and meet code, and a nice new Warrensville Center Road to get you home.

In fact, all those streets in the West 5 neighborhood are slated for repaving and repair in the next few years thanks to grants and loans from the state and the sewer company. We're really focusing on getting that neighborhood spiffed up. It's also one area where the city's strategic plan can focus on making the bungalow neighborhoods more marketable by looking for deteriorated homes to purchase, raze, and offer the lots to neighbors to expand their homes or lots, or build home office space onto garages, or develop pocket parks.

What you can do to bring house-proud new homeowners into the neighborhood: If there's a house for sale (and we know there are many), POST A NOTICE about it at your workplace, church or temple, tell friends who might be looking for a new place, or who might know someone in search of a reasonably-priced house in a great location in a city that's doing lots to renew itself...near the new Cedar Center, too!

The best way to fill our neighborhoods with good neighbors is to invite folks we want to move in. It's better to be proactive than to wait and find out the new owner next door is the neighbor from hell.

CEDAR CENTER
We're negotiating prices with the property owners. In the meantime, the developer is talking to new tenants, and some existing tenants. They'll probably start work on the back lot first, so the businesses up front can stay open as long as possible. Things don't always move as quickly as we'd like, but rest assured they are, indeed, moving forward.