Officials approve agreement to purchase land across from city campus

by Dan Holland

Sept. 14 city council meeting

Members of Broadview Heights City Council during a Sept. 14 meeting approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with Salem Communications Holding Corporation to purchase a 42.7-acre property located directly across from city campus at 1220 Akins Rd. for $300,000.

The parcel, which sits to the west and north of Danbury Broadview Heights, at 9500 Broadview Rd., is a transmitter site with a five-tower directional array for local radio station WHKW AM 1220. The property also features a 7,883-square-foot building with a garage and storage shed.

“Right now, we’re buying the property as the opportunity arose,” City Council President Robert Boldt told The Broadview Journal. “We have the Broadview Campus, and as much as we can, we want to try to control what goes on around it. At one point, I wanted to build the new fire station there, when it first went up for sale, but due to timing, that didn’t happen, as we weren’t able to make a deal at the time.”

“This is not an investment to turn around and sell it at a higher cost to another entity; that’s not the initiative behind this,” he continued. “It’s just to protect the area and make sure that we use it properly to help enhance the city campus and the area of Route 82 and Broadview Road. We want to make sure we have this property so that in the future, if there’s a need for another building or some other project that would benefit the residents of Broadview Heights, we have it.”

In other business, council approved:

  • An agreement with Automation Mailing and Shipping Solutions for postage solutions.
  • An agreement with FP Mailing Solutions for postage solutions.
  • A resolution authorizing and directing the payment of certain claims for professional services and other services in the city.
  • A resolution accepting the amounts and rates as determined by the budget commission and authorizing the necessary tax levies and certifying them to the county fiscal officer.
  • An agreement with Ken Ganley Ford Barberton for a 2026 Ford Explorer for the building department at a cost of $43,992.
  • An agreement with Stryker Sales LLC for a Stryker Power Load Cot Fastener system for the fire department at a cost of $13,000.
  • An ordinance providing for the issuance and sale of notes in a maximum aggregate principal amount of $1,800,000 in anticipation of the issuance of bonds to provide funds to pay costs of improving and extending Treeworth Boulevard by constructing a roadway with concrete pavement and aggregate pavement base, installing utility infrastructure, including sanitary sewers, watermains and storm sewers.
  • A motion to accept the Planning Commission’s recommendation to grant approval to Morel Landscaping to construct a 25,200-square-foot pre-engineered metal building for a landscaping headquarters on its property at 9396 Broadview Rd.
  • A motion to accept the Planning Commission’s recommendation to grant approval for an application by David Sabol Architect LLC for James Boulas to build a detached, single-floor employee parking garage totaling 5,704 square feet on commercial property located at 7912-7924 Broadview Rd.

Sept. 28 city council meeting

Measures approved on Sept. 28 include:

  • An agreement with Stonewall Tactical for rifles and sights for the police department at a cost of $31,479.
  • An agreement with Coreforce for body cam storage for the police department at a cost of $34,170.
  • An agreement with Dataworks Plus for a portable fingerprint scanner for the police department at a cost of $4,140.
  • A resolution accepting a donation of $1,000 from the Knights of Columbus to the police department.
  • An agreement with Gametime for the purchase and installation of a cantilever shade canopy for the common area at the city’s new outdoor athletic courts at a cost of $20,065.
  • An agreement to enter into a contract renewal with Cargill for road salt in the city.
  • Two emergency ordinances advancing funds.
  • An ordinance amending Ordinance 20-2025 providing for approved appropriations for current expenses and other expenditures for the city during the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2026.