A Message from Mayor Ethan Spencer

Dear Residents,

I have some exciting news to share!  Your Village Council has filled the seat which was vacated when I became Mayor.  Frederick (Rick) Vincent, who has been a resident of the Village for about 11 years, is an Engineering Design Manager in the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s Engineering and Construction Department, and he is your newest Councilman.  He has jumped right into the Council position and onto the Roads & Safety Committee, where his experience will be very valuable.  Welcome Rick!

As I have been out and about over the last month speaking with residents, a couple seasonal topics have come up.  I would like to share with you a little more detail about both our Road Program and our cul-de-sac/right of way maintenance approach.  This month I will focus on roads.  Look to next month for a cul-de-sac discussion.

In terms of roads, during the pandemic our Village froze spending in many areas in order to protect against a potential revenue downturn.  This included paring down the Road Program.  While spending fluctuates depending on other needs and circumstances, in an average year the Village spends a little more than $1M per year on outside contractors for resurfacing and making significant repairs to our roads, storm, and sanitary infrastructure.  This excludes smaller patching jobs that can be done by our Service Department.  For example, you may have noticed the work recently done on lower Jackson Road.  We were able to accomplish that in-house.  During 2020, outside spending dropped to about $760K.  In 2022, we tackled a large section of Chagrin Blvd. supplemented by $250K from Cuyahoga County so our spending was almost two times a “normal year.”  During that time, we were also working to secure additional County, State or Federal money to assist on some of our larger roads.  Both Chagrin River Road and Jackson Road have needed resurfacing for a while, but like Chagrin Blvd., they are County roads and much too expensive for us to complete on our own.  Fortunately, we did secure ARPA funds and Ohio Public Works Commission funds for these roads this year.  Therefore, we plan to resurface our section of Chagrin River Road from Chagrin Blvd. to Miles Road.  We are planning to resurface Jackson Road from SOM Center Road to the Village line near Lander Road.  For 2023, our budgeted spending for infrastructure improvements is over $3M. 

Each year our Village Engineer updates his analysis of road conditions to set priorities for resurfacing, pavement repairs, surface treatment and crack sealing.  He provides me with a three-year plan indicating the priority for resurfacing projects based on road condition.  We use that plan during the budgeting process to determine which roads will be done during the upcoming fiscal year.  I can assure you that the condition of our roads is a top priority, and we will continue to seek outside funding to supplement our budget.  If you believe your street should be done sooner, please understand that we must spend your tax dollars wisely and efficiently.  We will only spend what we can afford so that we do not end up asking for new taxes.

As always, if you have any comments, questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at espencer@morelandhills.com or 440-248-1188.

Have a wonderful summer.