PEPPER PIKE, Ohio – Moreland Hills is pursuing a project that would involve installation of fiber optic technology for the entire village.
“We have put out a request for proposals to wire the entire village – that would be every home – with fiber,” Moreland Hills Mayor Ethan Spencer said at the Orange Board of Education’s meeting with the mayors Thursday (Oct. 16).
“We’ve received two proposals back from installers, and council is in the process of evaluating those proposals.
“I expect that we’ll have a public meeting for residents to give input on this.”
In the semiannual meeting, mayors from the five primary municipalities served by the Orange City School District are invited to provide updates about their communities.
Spencer said he’s hopeful that Village Council will approve the project by early next year so it can move forward.
“It’s a long process to wire the village,” he said. “It would probably take a year-plus to get that done.
“But we’re very excited about that.
“We’ve had a lot of residents ask about having better connectivity in their homes, as we have a number of dead spots in Moreland Hills. So this would really address that problem.”
Other Moreland Hills news
Spencer said the village’s Fall Fest is set for noon to 3 p.m. Oct. 25 in the pavilion at Forest Ridge Preserve, 3800 Chagrin River Road.
“It’s a fun event for adults and children,” he said. “We’ll have hayrides, games, crafts, costumes and candy.”
In addition, Spencer said it’s been an active year for residential development in Moreland Hills, “with people investing in and expanding their homes and in some cases knocking down and building new homes.”
Spencer said the Moreland Commons housing development, located across the street from the Orange Schools campus on Chagrin Boulevard, has been selling well.
“They have single-family homes and triple villas, but plans have been changed somewhat,” he said.
“Two of three of the villas will now be double villas instead of triples, and they’re slightly expanding them.
“I think it actually will be cosmetically nicer.”
There are still some homes for sale in the development, he said.
In August, a Moreland Hills recycling truck caught fire and caused major damage, Spencer said.
“It was a huge fire,” he said. “We had three or four fire departments respond to this because the heat was so tremendous.”
The truck was totaled, but the driver was not injured, Spencer said.
“We believe it was caused by lithium-ion batteries being put into the recycling,” he said.
“I just want to raise awareness of this, because it’s a very serious thing.”
Lithium batteries can be highly flammable, Spencer said.
“Some of them say recyclable on them, but they are not to be put in recycling bins for curbside recycling,” he said.
“So be really mindful of what you’re doing in terms of recycling.”
The truck that replaced the one that was destroyed cost more than $400,000, and the village received only $263,000 in insurance reimbursement, Spencer said.
“I’ve asked our service department to audit our recycling from time to time,” he said.
“Since then, we’ve had a high level of compliance with the proper materials being put in the bins, so we’re happy about that.”
The village recently hired Shalon Clark as its new assistant finance director, Spencer said.
Its longtime assistant finance director, Marcia Bossart, is retiring in November.
Pepper Pike has new walkways
Pepper Pike Mayor Richard Bain said this year has featured the installation and opening of several walkways in the city.
The Gates Mills Boulevard Trail, which comprises part of a linear park on Gates Mills Boulevard, has been open for almost a year and has been “extraordinarily popular,” Bain said.
It extends from the circle at Shaker Boulevard to Lander Road and the campus of Ursuline College.
The Lander Road walkway, installed last year, is also very well used, Bain said.
A walkway also has been installed on South Woodland Road, going from Pinetree Road to Lander Road.
Another walkway on Shaker Boulevard is about halfway complete, he added.
“The residents are incredibly enthusiastic about this,” he said.
A grant for a second section of the Gates Mills Trail has been approved by City Council, Bain said.
“Our engineer is in the process of completing his design engineering for it,” he said.
“It will be pretty much in the same flavor as the first mile and a quarter. This section is just over a mile.”
Bain is hopeful that construction of this section will get under way in early spring.
“We’ve had conversations with Orange and its mayor, as well as (Cuyahoga) County, on the extension of walkability, certainly making the (Lander) Circle more pedestrian friendly and safe,” he said.
“I’d like to see (a walkway) extend from the circle toward the (Orange) schools so that it’s safe for the children who are going up and down Chagrin Boulevard. I think that’s real important.”
In other Pepper Pike news, Bain said the city had “a terrific special needs project” launched over the past month on the Ursuline College motherhouse campus.
“People have started moving in,” he said. “These are primarily young adults whose families are placing them in these residential units.
“(It also includes) a few older adults who basically have waited a lifetime to have this sort of independent living situation.”
On the adjacent Ursuline College campus, Ursuline is in the process of merging with Gannon University, a small Catholic school in Erie, Pa., Bain said.
“I think it’s a wonderful support for Ursuline College,” he said. “What it means is that Ursuline has stabilized itself, so that it’s not going to face the challenges and shutdowns of a place like Notre Dame College (another Catholic school that closed last year in South Euclid).”
Bain said the two schools are combining programming, and the one in Pepper Pike will become the Ursuline College campus of Gannon University.
Most approvals for the merger have been received, he said.
Internet safety event in Orange
In an event organized by the Orange CARES (Caring About Residents – Encouraging Service) Committee, the Orange Police Department invites parents and children ages 10-16 to an event concerning internet safety with the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at Village Hall, 4600 Lander Road.
“It’s really important for kids and their parents to get a better understanding of how to be safe on the internet,” Orange Mayor Judson Kline said.
Kline said the village also has a holiday lighting ceremony scheduled for 6 p.m. Dec. 10 in the gazebo at Village Hall.
Kline also provided an update on various construction projects in the village that are either in progress or the design phase.
These include the Omni Senior Living development, south of Harvard Road, including The Canyons adult 55-and-over community; Phase 8 of the Lakes of Orange residential development, off Miles Road; the redevelopment of the former Bahama Breeze site on Orange Place into a mixed-use commercial development; and the Residences of Walnut Hills at Pinecrest, which has received preliminary design approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission.
In addition, Kline said a fiber optic network is being installed at the Orange Hill Estates and Orangewood subdivisions.
Those projects are expected to be completed within the next month, he said.
The Orange Community Artisan and Farmers Market has been “a huge success,” Kline said.
The next market will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 6 at Moreland Hills Elementary School, on Gail Allison Drive in Moreland Hills.
“We’ll continue to do those next year,” Kline said, noting the market usually occurs outdoors, outside the building department at 4680 Lander Road.
Hunting Valley also installing fiber
In Hunting Valley, Mayor Bruce Mavec said the village is in the process of completing a fiber optic installation.
“It should be done about the end of the year,” he said. “We’re very excited about that.
“It’s a huge step forward. We have the same problem (as Moreland Hills) with dead spots and cell issues, and this would fix a lot of that.”
Hunting Valley also has recently begun a program to install six automated speed enforcement cameras to address driver behavior and reduce crashes, Mavec said.
Several of the cameras are already operational, he said.
“We’ve had people caught going in excess of 100 mph on Chagrin River Road and 70 mph down the Fairmount (Boulevard) hill,” he said.
“We’ve had a number of cars end up in the trees. So we’re putting these in to get people to slow down.”
In addition, the village is doing some drainage and resurfacing on Shaker Boulevard, Mavec said.
The village also recently opened a park at State Route 87 and Chagrin River Road, he said.
“It has a walking trail and parking area,” he said. “It’s very accessible for nearby communities, which is a great thing.”
The village has published a book highlighting the history of Hunting Valley, and it has been sent to residents, Mavec said.
“We have quite a few houses under construction – several large, new homes and quite a few renovations,” he said. “So tax revenue should be going up in that regard.
“We’re busy, but we’re doing fine.”
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