Early Warning Alert Siren System

Extreme weather formations (including possible tornadoes) are common this time of year. The early warning alert siren system is the City's way of alerting residents of possible danger, and advising them to seek shelter and listen to the radio, watch television or check the web for complete information.

If a situation should occur that may pose danger, a steady weather alert siren--a three-minute long steady tone--will sound. If necessary, verbal instructions can be announced using the system. When you hear the steady alert siren, take appropriate shelter and tune into radio or TV for more information. Please don't call 911 if you hear the alert; those lines need to remain open for emergencies. Try the non-emergency number at 521-7580 if you have concerns about the siren.

Though the city's four sirens are very loud (about 100 decibels 100 feet away, similar to a standing over an operating jackhammer) they are to notify residents who are outside. So, some residents may not hear the sirens if they are inside. The City tests the sirens every Saturday at noon. The test sirens play chimes, except the last Saturday of the month when the steady weather alert siren sounds for thirty seconds.

Lakewood Arts Festival and a $4,000 College Scholarship

The Lakewood Arts Festival will be here before you know it. On the first weekend of August (8.1.2009 this year), local and national artists will fill Detroit Avenue in downtown Lakewood. Thousands of visitors and about 160 artists will attend our annual event, which has been a Lakewood staple for more than 30 years.

Also, this year the Lakewood Arts Festival is offering a $4,000 college scholarship to one high school student, who lives in Lakewood, and plans to major in art when they attend a four year college in the fall. The deadline is April 10^th, 2009.

The Lakewood Arts Festival is offering a $4,000 college scholarship to one graduating high school student. The student must legally reside in Lakewood and be enrolled in a four-year college or art school in the fall of 2009. The student must also plan to major in art.

For questions and applications please call Kathy Heidelberg at (216) 221-4281 or visit www.lakewoodartsfest.org.

Pictures courtesy Lakewood Arts Fest

Lakewood to Recieve $1.9 Million from NOACA for Clifton Boulevard Signals

The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) has announced that it will award $1,963,500 to the City of Lakewood for the Clifton Boulevard Signalization Project. NOACA’s Regional Transportation Investment Subcommittee approved this project to be 100% funded with its Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality (CMAQ) funding. CMAQ funds are allocated to projects that help alleviate traffic congestion and improve air quality.

The new state of the art equipment will use wireless communication. This system upgrade will improve traffic movement, reduce delays, reduce fuel consumption and improve air quality. The system will be more energy efficient and easier to maintain.

The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) is a transportation and environmental planning agency that represents state, county, city, village and township officials. NOACA addresses the transportation, air quality and water quality needs of Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina counties. NOACA and its partners cooperatively develop and implement plans to ensure that travel throughout the region is safe, cost-effective and environmentally sound.

CPR Classes

The Lakewood Start-A-Heart Committee is offering Heartsaver AED/CPR Courses. Courses will be offered from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Fire Station #1, 14601 Madison Avenue on the following dates:

• Wednesday, April 8, 2009
• Wednesday, May 13, 2009
• Wednesday, September 9, 2009
• Wednesday, October 14, 2009
• Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Heartsaver AED Course teaches the basic techniques of adult CPR and how to use an AED. Students also learn about using barrier devices in CPR and giving first aid for choking. The course teaches how to recognize the signs of four major emergencies: heart attack, stroke, cardiac arrest and foreign-body airway obstruction. The scope of this course does not include infant (0-12 months) CPR technique..

The cost for the class is $20.00. It must be paid in advance and is non-refundable. To register to take one of the monthly HeartSaver AED/CPR courses, contact Cheryl Behm at Lakewood Hospital at (216) 227-2481. Books are also available to purchase prior to or at the class for $12 each.

Clifton Boulevard Plans

In 2006, the City of Lakewood, in partnership with the City of Cleveland retained the Cleveland Urban Design Center to develop a framework and recommendations for improvements to Clifton Boulevard. This directive was to restore of the grandeur of the boulevard by improving the pedestrian environment while supplementing transit options. Asphalt and high volume traffic now dominated this once-classic example of a tree lined streetcar thoroughfare.

The Clifton Boulevard Streetscape Enhancement Project, as it would be called, worked through a public input process—attended by hundreds—to develop a consensus for improvements that enhance the environment of the boulevard. The outcome is a plan to improve the environment for those living along the street, using the street for walking or bicycling, and for those patronizing the retail establishments while enhancing transit options to and from job centers in Cleveland’s downtown and eastside.

The streetscape enhancement plan bore out the communities’ desire to better balance the transit hierarchy of the boulevard and minimize the impact of cars on Clifton. The plan recommends constructing a shallow landscaped median composed of ornamental trees and ground plantings. Historic lighting and signage will complement the updates. Special paving at cross walks and architecturally sympathetic bus shelters will enhance pedestrian-friendliness, transit ridership and accessibility.

In 2007, Lakewood City Council adopted the Streetscape Enhancement Plan into the City’s Master Plan. The master plan is the guiding document for the on-going improvement, development and success of Lakewood’s physical environment, neighborhoods and economy. The City of Cleveland Planning Department has also made enhancing the boulevard a priority. Together, both cities view this opportunity to enhance the boulevard as strategic to strengthening residential and commercial property.

In 2008, both cities advanced their efforts to pursue funding for this important enhancement project that will increase property values for residential properties, calm traffic and expand transit options for this densely-populated corridor. Both cities have sought RTA’s input as a source for funding and transit design, requesting new environmentally friendly busses that use the outer-most lane and to construct historically sympathetic shelters along the outside curbs. With the participation of the Federal Transit Administration and the region’s transit authority, both cities continued public input and collaboration to produce public planning and a funding strategy that would make the Clifton Streetscape Plan a reality.

Recently, RTA was awarded more than $700,000 to pay for the engineering for the project. Part of that study will be to - again - collect public input on the plan and details regarding that plan. Public meetings should be underway in the autumn.

Earth Hour Event

H2O – Help to Others Youth Volunteer Program is hosting an Eco-Friendly Event at Lakewood Park on March 28th (8:00-9:30 pm). The event is designed to show support for Earth Hour’s global effort and to encourage people to adopt green habits that will reduce the carbon footprint on our planet. From 8- 8:30 pm, attendees will be able to browse through displays provided by businesses, and organizations. High school members of H2O will demonstrate the correct way to recycle curbside in Lakewood. At 8:30 pm when the lights go out in the Women’s Pavilion, there will be outdoor attractions to encourage movement, imagination and fun.

Scheduled activities will include:

• Telescopic stargazing
• Acoustic guitar music
• Firelight storytelling
• Glow in the dark Frisbee fun
• A luminary walk
• A recycling scavenger hunt

H2O student volunteers are encouraging everyone to join Earth Hour’s world wide event by dedicating just one hour to darkening our city and changing the efforts of global warming. TURN OUT…TAKE ACTION and be sure to check out the awesome events that are happening around the globe on March 28th at www.earthhour.org. Register your family on the Earth Hour website today! For more information contact: Nora Steele, H2O Assistant Coordinator, (216) 529-4173

It's Tax Time...

The Lakewood Division of Municipal Income Tax is available to assist you with your local income taxes (they'll even help with refunds too).

Beginning March 19th, the Lakewood Municipal Income Tax Division will extend their business hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays to 8:00 AM through 7:00 PM until April 14th. The department also has extend hours Saturday, April 11th from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and Wednesday, April 15th from 8:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

If you prefer to file online, click here.

For more information, call the department at (216) 529-6620.

Social Security Office to Remain in Lakewood

On Monday, March 9, 2009, Mayor Ed FitzGerald and Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich held a joint press conference to announce that the Social Security Administration (SSA) Office will remain in Lakewood. The SSA will be relocating from their current site at Lakewood Center North to a new site located at 17513 Detroit Avenue. This is the current site of Lakewood Christian Church. SSA had been looking for a new site since 2002 and searched all of the western suburbs. Congressman Kucinich and Mayor FitzGerald strongly advocated for them to stay in Lakewood.

Lakewood will benefit by retaining 100 jobs and keeping the $4.4 Million payroll in Lakewood. In addition, the sale of the church will turn this non-taxable property into a taxable property. Lakewood will gain from more than $120,000 in new property tax for the city and the schools.

The site will be redeveloped to house the Social Security Administration Field Office. This is a $5 Million dollar development project and the Social Security Administration is projected to move in 2010.

“This is great news for Lakewood,” stated Mayor Ed FitzGerald. “I want to thank Congressman Kucinich and our Planning and Development Department for working so hard to keep the Social Security Office here in Lakewood.” “In these tough economic times, we are happy to be retaining these jobs and gaining the additional tax benefits of turning this site into a taxable property.”

In 2002, the Social Security Administration announced that they would be seeking a new location to meet their needs and they would be searching the entire west side of Cleveland. Congressman Kucinich persuaded the Social Security Administration to strictly adhere to Executive Order 12072, giving local officials greater influence in locating federal offices, and limiting their search to Lakewood. They searched for 7 years to find a suitable location in Lakewood and were having difficulty finding a location to meet all of their needs. In early 2008, the City of Lakewood’s Planning and Development Department made it a priority to find the Social Security Office a new home within Lakewood. Within six months, the City found three potential sites which met the needs of the Social Security Administration and would be beneficial for Lakewood.

Zoning Code Updated

The City of Lakewood Zoning code has been reformatted and is updated as of March 2009. An electronic copy of the code is on the City’s Planning and Development webpage in a searchable PDF format. Visit www.onelakewood.com to view, download and save a copy anytime.

Lakewood to Receive $1.4 Million Grant

The City of Lakewood continues to push for its fair share of federal dollars from the 2009 Recovery Act. Lakewood has been recently awarded over $1.4 million from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This is in addition to the approximately $1.1 million already awarded from the Federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) for property acquisition.

The City of Lakewood will receive $589,901 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding and $902,439 in Homelessness Prevention money, as part of the economic stimulus package.

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program enables local governments to undertake a wide range of activities intended to create suitable living environments, provide decent affordable housing and create economic opportunities, primarily for persons of low and moderate income. One priority of this additional funding is to maximize job creation and economic development. While HUD has not released the specific requirements for spending this money, the additional CDBG money will most likely be spent on public infrastructure or economic development projects.

Lakewood will also receive $902,439 as part of the Homelessness Prevention Fund. The intention of this fund is to provide financial assistance and services to prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless. The funds will provide for a variety of assistance, including: short-term or medium-term rental assistance and housing relocation and stabilization services, including such activities as mediation, credit counseling, security or utility deposits, utility payments, moving cost assistance, and case management. Program details will be announced in the coming months.

Getting Ready for More Sidewalk Dining

The City of Lakewood is committed to working with local business to provide new opportunities for the continued growth and vitality of our commercial districts. Recently, the Lakewood City Council passed a revised Outdoor Dining Ordinance to help meet the needs of local restaurants and provide more seating choices for residents and visitors.

This new ordinance was developed to offer options to restaurants interested in considering the addition of sidewalk dining to their service. Though sidewalk dining may not be possible for everyone, the chance to explore this exciting opportunity is now available.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss the possibilities for your restaurant please contact Department of Planning & Development at (216) 529-6630 or planning@lakewoodoh.net.