Shaker Lakes get bit of reprieve amid historic preservation review

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio — Construction bids have been pushed back to the spring on the $32 million Horseshoe Park project as state and federal agencies continue a historic preservation review.

Meanwhile, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) officials hope to proceed on “routine maintenance” work downstream at the Lower Shaker Lake dam.

That work has been on hold since concerned residents sent a “cease-and-desist” letter in December.

Shaker Heights City Council heard updates on both projects during a work session on Monday (Feb. 9).

Council also got an earful from more than a dozen residents, some from Cleveland Heights and members of the newly formed Shaker Lakes Conservancy.

While the city generally does not allow public comments during council work sessions, Mayor David Weiss made an exception Monday.

“These are two projects going on simultaneously but separately, with a lot of activity and study on both,” Weiss said.

After the sewer district unveiled a “revised recommendation” last year to remove Lower Lake dam as well as the Horseshoe Lake dam, the cities of Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights jointly retained a lawyer for an independent legal review exploring all options.

“With Lower Lake, there have been no final decisions on what ultimately the project will entail,” Weiss said. “It remains under consideration and investigation.”

NEORSD Deputy Watershed Director Robin Halperin said no work will begin on any recommendations until an actual project — estimated at $45 million (dam removal) to $55 million (dam improvements) — is identified.

“No matter what we do, some sort of federal permit will be involved,” she added.

Councilwoman Kim Bixenstine asked about the respective duties of the cities and the sewer district in regard to the smaller maintenance project at Lower Lake.

That work should take five days, primarily involving placement of 100 tons of “riprap,” a layer of large stones installed to protect 226 feet of the shoreline from erosion.

Halperin said the sewer district is responsible for implementing all flood-mitigation activity.

Shaker Public Works Department Assistant Director of Infrastructure Christian Maier said such follow-up maintenance work can continue under a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit issued in 2018.

Much of the rock installed the following year has since washed away.

Councilwoman Nancy Moore asked if the riprap would conflict with a “Section 106” review through the Army Corps, as well as the Ohio Historic Preservation Office (OHPO).

Halperin said more erosion armor would actually add protection for historical purposes.

Upstream at the drained Horseshoe Lake — where the state and federal historic review continues — Moore also asked about the sewer district’s plans to remove roughly 1,000 trees at Horseshoe Park.

NEORSD Watershed Director Matt Scharver said about 200 of those mature trees have trunks that measure 2 feet or more in diameter.

Overall, the 1,000 trees need to be taken out for “many reasons,” including the fact that some are invasive species, he said.

In moving the north branch of Doan Brook over to form a confluence with the stream’s middle branch into the traditional channel, other mature trees also need to come down.

The sewer district will replace the chopped trees with more than 1,100 new ones, along with several thousand shrubs and another 7,000 “live staking branches” planted along the stream bed for erosion protection, Scharver added.

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