Shaker, Cleveland Heights councils proceed on shared Horseshoe Park agreements

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio — Several residents voiced their concerns last week on a year-end closeout at two separate city council meetings involving the ongoing Doan Brook Restoration near Horseshoe Lake Park.

They questioned the need for passing the legislation on an “emergency basis” while the project has yet to be bid and the proposed scope of work remains under review at the federal and state levels.

Both Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights councils approved parallel agreements each on Dec. 15 — all of them on first reading, which also rankled some residents.

Shaker Heights Law Director William Ondrey Gruber explained the emergency tags simply meant the legislation would take effect immediately, rather than 30 days after passage.

One joint agreement authorizes removal of the failing Horseshoe Lake dam and creating a confluence of two branches of Doan Brook in the resulting 60-acre expanse of Shaker Parklands at a projected cost of $25 million.

That share will be covered by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD), which can now put the two-year project out to bid as early as January.

The other agreement, passed unanimously by both councils, provides for a cost split between the two cities on $7.2 million in added amenities for the new park.

Based on topography of the parkland leased from Cleveland, Shaker will cover 65% and Cleveland Heights the remaining portion.

Local officials pointed out that both agreements apply only to Horseshoe Park and not Lower Lake and dam, where the sewer district earlier this year moved the goalposts on signed agreements with both councils to preserve the latter.

Click here to read the rest of the article!