State of the City: Last year's planning leads to this year's projects
Bay Village Mayor Paul Koomar introduces the city's department heads and council members. Photo by Denny Wendell
Bay Village Mayor Paul Koomar offered his State of the City presentation at the Dwyer Center on Wednesday, March 2, to a modest crowd of city officials and residents. In his annual address, the mayor shared highlights from each city department over the past year, and previewed some of the projects coming soon.
The City will begin implementing the “Stay in Bay” mixed-use zoning overlay and the Lakefront Master Plan in Cahoon Park. The zoning overlay, approved by voters last November, encourages retail, office and residential development in Bay’s commercial districts.
The Lakefront Master Plan, partially funded by a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and finalized last year, seeks to protect the shoreline, offer increased lake access, and improve connectivity throughout Cahoon Park. A pedestrian bridge will be installed this fall over Cahoon Creek, connecting the east and west sides of the park. Grant funding from NOACA and the state will cover a large portion of that cost.
Mayor Koomar also discussed a number of construction projects in the works for this year, spanning the city.
On the west side, the Ashton Lane bridge will be replaced. The road will be closed during construction.
On the east side, both Wolf and Lake roads will be lined with orange barrels as resurfacing gets underway soon. Traffic will be maintained in both directions during the road construction. Wolf Road will be widened for bike lanes from Clague to Dover Center, and Clague Road will be restriped to add bike lanes between Wolf and Lake.
Near the city center, the $9.2-million Bay library branch will open on April 30. The City is soliciting bids for the sale of the current library building on Cahoon Road.
A feasibility study will soon get underway on improvements to the fire station. The plan will begin with an architecture firm experienced in fire station projects conducting an assessment of the 50-year-old building, which has received limited improvements since its construction.
The two hot topics on the City Council agenda are ordinances concerning the city’s tree canopy and home-based businesses, the mayor said. Updates to those ordinances will continue to be discussed.
To view the Powerpoint slides from Mayor Koomar’s presentation, visit cityofbayvillage.com/257/Mayor-of-Bay-Village.