Cleveland Water describes water tower construction details

by Sue Serdinak

Oct. 9 planning and zoning commission meeting

It has been almost five years since village officials started working with the City of Cleveland to change the location of a proposed water tower in Richfield.

Although Cleveland has supplied Lake Erie water to the village by way of a central line along Brecksville Road and some short extensions for over 25 years, the rest of the village has relied on private wells for a water source. Cleveland Water (CWD) could not extend the water service any further without a water tower to provide pressure.

It has been known for a couple of years that the new site for a tower would be in the industrial district west of Brecksville Road and south of the Broadview/Wheatley Road intersection.  

Project engineers from the Cleveland Water Department explained that a 233-foot tall, 75-foot wide tower will be built on about a one-acre site that is owned by Emil Pawuk & Associates, part of the Empaco group.

Empaco corporate offices are on the 9.5 acres east of the site at 2958 Brecksville Rd. The tower site address is Highlander Drive and is about 400 feet west of that roadway.

The CWD engineers explained that the site has wetlands and challenging topography. “It is 20 feet lower than Brecksville Road. Eight acres drain to this site,” said Allen Mavrides.  

 “We have to control all of that water on this site. During construction there will be one sediment control facility. After construction there will be a stormwater management facility on Cleveland Water’s property and a separate one on Mr. Pawuk’s property.”

He said CWD has engaged a wetland consultant for the project.

CWD will construct a 28-foot wide, 1,000-foot long access road with curbs, gutters and storm sewers from Brecksville Road to the tower. The tower will be fenced and have its own utilities.

CWD engineer Becky Andrus said clearing of the site should start in the fall of 2020 and they anticipate breaking ground in December 2020. “There is a huge lead time of steel fabrication, while we’re waiting on the land site,” she added.

Empaco involvement

Almost five years ago, the village approached Mark Pawuk, CEO of the Empaco group of companies, about locating the water tower somewhere on one of his industrially-zoned properties after the administration decided not to allow the tower to be built east of the West Richfield Cemetery, as had been planned for about 20 years. 

Planning and zoning director Brian Frantz described the transactions. “There have been a bunch of agreements and easements that are needed for such a complicated matter,” he said. “To bring that site to a reality, the village is swapping some property that we own, the Soni property on Congress Parkway, to Mr. Pawuk. Mr. Pawuk will swap his 1-acre site [to the village] and it will then be swapped to Cleveland Water. … With some easement changes we’re hoping to close on that property by the end of this year … and this project should continue to march quickly at that point,” he said.

The property referred to as the Soni property is 2.1 acres that had been an industrial hazardous waste site owned by Highpoint Trucking. In 2010, then Mayor Mike Lyons acquired a Clean Ohio Grant to have the property cleaned under the auspices of the Ohio EPA. Following the clean up, the property was transferred to the village.   

Pawuk will also give CWD a half-acre easement during the construction phase and, following construction, will plant 30 trees outside of the fenced-in area of the tower.

Ralph Waszak, council’s representative to the planning and zoning commission thanked Pawuk for making this tower project possible. “Your father [Emil Pawuk] would be proud,” Waszak said.

Empaco specializes in petroleum marketing equipment and underground tank removal. They own trucking terminals, the 2-K’s car wash and a Unilock Franchise on the west side of Brecksville Road and the FedEx Freight terminal on the east side of the roadway.

After the meeting Pawuk told the Richfield Times that he is pleased the long process is over and that he could help Richfield get the water tower that it needs.

He added that he continues to work to improve the old truck terminals that have been part of the Richfield landscape since the 1950s.

Featured image photo caption: The exact location and specifications of the Richfield water tower to be built by the Cleveland Water Department are shown, outlined in red. The blue line indicates a road that CWD will build to access the tower. Map taken from Summit County website.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story included an inaccurate map of the location for the proposed water tower. The photo has been updated to show the correct location.