Chagrin Valley Dispatch to lease remaining two Blossom Hill buildings

by Melissa Martin

Jan. 18 city council meeting

After more than four years of standing vacant, all city buildings at the Blossom Hill site are occupied, Brecksville officials announced.

Because there are rules about who can rent the buildings — lessees have to be 501(c)(3) nonprofits or municipal or governmental entities — Service Director Ron Weidig told council’s finance committee the city had been unable to find suitable tenants.

“We’ve taken people through over the years but never had anyone actually interested,” Weidig said.

Representatives from Chagrin Valley Dispatch, which operates the communication center for 26 communities in the city’s police station, expressed interest late last year in occupying Buildings 2 and 12 at 4470 Oakes Rd. to house administrative and information technology offices, Weidig said. The lease agreement was finalized by Brecksville City Council at its Jan. 18 meeting.

As part of the lease, the city agreed to make several improvements to the building, including the installation of a $9,500 fire alarm system and $2,600 in supplemental air conditioning units, which will be installed by the building department this spring.

Finance Director Laura Starosta told council the city has agreed to $44,000 in rental credits for the spaces that will be applied through 2025. Because the city no longer has to pay utilities and common area maintenance costs for the space, the city stands to generate more than $141,000 during the five-year lease.

“After sitting vacant this long, we’re happy that all the buildings at Blossom Hill are finally filled,” Mayor Jerry Hruby said, noting the other buildings are being used by city departments, the Brecksville Historical Association, the Brecksville Cooperative Preschool and the South Suburban Montessori School.

Renewing CVD contracts

Council will soon consider renewing two existing contracts with Chagrin Valley Dispatch. The first is a one-year, $288,000 contract for the management and support of the city’s information technology department. Hruby said the city contracted with CVD for the first time in 2021 to take over departmental operations after the city dealt with inefficiencies in operating its own three-member IT department.

“We were not getting our work done,” Hruby said. “Our systems were starting to fail, and we felt we really needed to upgrade our department.”

In searching for an answer, Hruby said the city discovered CVD was already providing IT support to nearby communities and agreed to provide three full-time individuals to take over IT operations for Brecksville.

“These individuals know how to do everything, from operating the mainframe all the way down to software installations and other various things we have to do,” Hruby, adding that one member of Brecksville’s former IT team no longer works for the city, while the other two have since been reassigned.

The contract is nearly double the amount the city spent to operate its own IT department, but Hruby justified the additional expense by saying Brecksville has three highly skilled technicians at its disposal instead of one, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“The difference has been like night and day,” Hruby said, noting that CVD has helped eliminate cyber security issues. “We’ve [also] resolved all of the complaints that had been coming in, replaced our outdated servers and are now [in the process of replacing more than] 40 computers [at city hall in 2022].”

Council is expected to approve a $489,675 contract with CVD for the operation of its emergency services dispatch center, which also serves the communities of Broadview Heights, Independence and Seven Hills.

The city joined forces with the three other municipalities for dispatch services in 2018 to pool resources and cut police and fire expenses. In addition to saving more than $175,000 a year in dispatch costs, Hruby said CVD has also afforded all four communities greater peace of mind.

“When we had our own dispatch center, if we had a major fire, the dispatcher on call had to handle the fire as well as all the other police calls that came in,” he said, referring to CVD’s team of approximately eight staff members per shift. “With this system, one dispatcher takes over the fire call and the other dispatcher handles all the other calls that come in. Not only does this help in efficiency, it also helps to have two sets of ears listening at all times. … We’ve added state-of-the-art equipment, increased our manpower and lowered our costs and discovered the efficiency [of the police and fire departments] have been enhanced when an incident is going on.”

In other news, council:

• Voted to promote former Building Department inspector Steve Synek to the position of assistant building official.

“Considering all the work that is in our future with the development of Valor Acres and the other development at the south end, we felt it was necessary to elevate him to assist chief building official Scott Packard,” Hruby said, adding that Brecksville intends to hire another inspector once construction at Valor Acres begins, with a portion of the cost paid by developers.

• Approved the rezoning of 8997 Highland Dr. from R-8 single family to C-F community facilities district, as well as the rezoning of 10909 Chippewa Rd., from the R-20 single family district to the O-B office building district.

• Authorized Brecksville to apply for a SRT K-9 unit foundation grant, enabling the city to receive approximately $14,000 to purchase and train a police dog. ∞