2022 ballot issue - SAFETY CENTER, COMMUNITY CENTER & Connection of Sunset drive to cleve-mass

PAGE NOTE - this issue was approved by voters in 2022. here is the background on why i supported it.

The idea of a new safety center had been floating through the Township for well over a decade. As a Township resident, my first reactions were just like yours; “We’re a small town and what is wrong with the current fire and police station?” “I drive through other small towns and their police department is working out of a converted convenience store!”

CURRENT POLICE STATION

The reality is that we are not the small town we once were. With a population of over 18,000, Copley has many of the same issues that any town our size has; including some homegrown residents that keep finding ways to interact with our police department. Besides these homegrown “frequent flyers”, our Township has a highway system and a commercial district that brings a constant flow of criminals from out of town. There isn’t a week that goes by without Copley’s finest arresting people for having a loaded handgun on the front seat next to a stash of fentanyl or other drugs. Throw in recurring prostitution at some area hotels and the occasional armed robbery and you begin to see a picture that is vastly different than the small town perspective that most of us share. It truly is a tribute to our police department that they prevent the criminal activity to permeate into our neighborhoods; enabling us to keep our perception of a small town.

This volume of activity overwhelms the current police station. Originally built as a small manufacturing facility, the current police station no longer meets the needs of our community. To demonstrate, here is a typical day in the life of a Copley police officer. You report to duty and gear-up in the locker room; where you don’t have a locker because the locker room is too small. After arresting 2 people with a large quantity of drugs and loaded pistol in their possession, you bring them back to the police station. Rather than remove the suspects within a secured garage attached to the station, you remove them from the police car in the open parking lot and struggle with them into the building. Once in the building, you lock them in a holding cell that doesn’t have a toilet and enables the suspects to see and communicate with each other (always helpful when trying to get their story straight). As you try to process the evidence and prepare your reports in an area that is too small to properly accomplish either task, you repeatedly need a 2nd police officer in order to safely remove each prisoner from the holding cell and escort them down the hall to the bathroom. You need a 2nd officer when you move each suspect to an interview room; that is not properly outfitted with video and audio recording capabilities. Once you are done processing the evidence there is no place to store it; so you take it to an out-building to wait for trial. When you finish the police report you may need to file it in the semi-trailer in the parking lot.

In summary, and ignoring the fact that the current building is crumbling, the current police station is not up to safety standards, puts our officers at un-necessary risks and results in wasted man-hours.

CURRENT FIRE STATION 1

Space and storage is a big problem for the fire department. Gender specific areas are shared. Firefighters sleep in the same room. There is no meeting room or training space. While these are noteworthy issues, our primary concern is safety.

  • Firefighters regularly encounter asbestos and other carcinogens.

  • When they return to the fire station, those carcinogens remain on their gear and clothing.

  • The current Fire Station is not designed to separate firefighters from the carcinogens that they regularly encounter and bring back to the fire station.

  • As a result, our firefighters currently live and sleep with the carcinogens they bring back to the firehouse.

  • Numerous studies have found that firefighters have a far greater risk of cancer and cancer related deaths due to their occupational hazards.

  • We considered retrofitting the existing fire station but our architect indicates that it is not cost effective as compared to a new building.

PROPOSED SAFETY CENTER AND COMMUNITY CENTER

If the Township voters approve the November 2022 ballot issue, the police and fire stations will be combined into one location. Combining the police and fire stations into one safety center results in some construction savings; shared conference space, entryways and parking to name a few. Here are some highlights of what is planned;

  • The location is on vacant land the Township acquired when they bought over a decade ago (the old VFW) on Sunset Drive.

  • Sunset Drive will be fully improved (sewer and water) and connected from Copley Road to Cleveland-Massillon Ave.

  • The additional parcels of Township owned land on Sunset will become more valuable and subsequently sold, along with the current police station, to help offset some of the cost.

  • Most of the Townhall space currently occupied by the fire department will be converted into a Community Center.

  • Some of the land south of the Townhall, that the Township acquired years ago, will be utilized to service the new community center.

  • In summary, the Township (a) gets a needed fire/police station, (b) adds a community center, (c) makes use of the various parcels it acquired years ago on Sunset Drive and South of Townhall.

  • The projects will be paid for by issuing bonds. In order to make the payments on the debt, there will be a property tax levy on the November 2022 ballot. The levy will not be permanent; but it will last until the debt is repaid.