11 minute read
RidgeLines
Synergy Success
Collaborative conversations and sharing resources between the city and school district makes for a stronger community.
BY KRISTEN HAMPSHIRE
Acollaborative partnership between the city and school district is the key to a thriving community.
“People move to cities with solid school systems, and one of the things we’ve worked hard to do during the last five years is build that relationship with the city,” says Superintendent Roxann Ramsey-Caserio, relating that ongoing conversations and community engagement have been integral to future planning.
Mayor Kevin Corcoran points out, “It’s of paramount importance for the schools and city to work together because nothing holds your property value better than a great school district. It’s important to all of our residents, and whenever possible, we work together to make the community stronger and better.”
From infrastructure to programming, aligning resources benefits everyone. There are ongoing examples of how a unified vision and supportive alliance have helped shape North Ridgeville.
“We’ve had multiple opportunities to look at projects across the city that benefit the residents and our schools, and Mayor Corcoran has made it extremely easy to have those conversations,” Caserio says.
Case in point: the Heart & Soul Fitness trail installation and construction of Ranger Way, which now links Bainbridge and Center Ridge roads.
“Those are great examples of the city and schools working together and coming to an agreement on what is best for the entire community,” Caserio says.
Now, dialogue is focused on a series of new school buildings and city amenities, such as a fieldhouse with indoor track, aquatic facility with exercise space and a senior center. A bond issue on the upcoming November ballot will propose a new high school with performing arts center, new kindergarten through third grade elementary school, dedicated space for Ranger High-Tech Academy and transportation maintenance facilities.
“When you talk about joint-use, multigenerational joint facilities, it doesn’t get any better than North Ridgeville right now,” Caserio says.
A Growing Community
When North Ridgeville High School was constructed in 1967, the city’s population was about 10,000 residents. Today, it’s 36,000.
“For us to work with a school building that was built more than 50 years ago with the current population, it creates a lot of stress because there is not enough space for the students,” Corcoran says.
Caserio adds that the high school was designed for 900 students and now houses 1,400. Additionally, high school students enrolled in Ranger High-Tech Academy have expressed a level of disconnect with extracurriculars and activities because of its location at the local Lorain County Community College (LCCC) branch.
A proposed new collaborative space designated for Ranger High-Tech enrollees in grades nine to 12, along with other students, would open up STEM opportunities to a larger audience.
The city, school district and residents have already experienced what a modern facility can do for learning, evidenced by the adaptable, studio spaces and collaborative areas at the North Ridgeville Academic Center for grades three to eight that opened during the 2017-18 school year.
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In December, the city’s facilities planning committee met to move forward and make some changes.
“We included a broader scope of North Ridgeville community members,” Caserio says of engaging business owners, parents of preschoolers, homeowners’ association representatives and senior citizens. As a whole, 20% of the population has children attending the schools, and 20% are older adults who are at least 55 years old.
“We talked about how we can appeal to everyone even if they do not have children in school,” Caserio says, pointing to another example of city collaboration with the proposed senior center and recreation facilities that can be shared by all. With proposed designated community resources — the recreation facilities and senior center — the city and schools can further collaborate.
“Right now, the senior center works with schools on intergenerational activities, whether it’s reading to children or an intergenerational Olympics activities, and one of the great things about our seniors is they have so many experiences to share,” Corcoran says. “If we can bring the younger and older generations together, it makes the community stronger.”
Joining Forces
The bond issue “came out of a need,” Caserio emphasizes, explaining that it’s different than a levy that is used for operating expenses. “This is actual construction, and we have been talking about our schools and the space constraints for some time now. Our brand-new building is in excellent shape to handle the growth we are seeing in the community, but the other buildings are not.”
The overall estimated cost of construction is approximately $227 million, and the school district’s portion is roughly $190 million. Combining forces with the city will save the district about $18 million. The city income tax increase for the recreation and senior centers is 0.2%.
North Ridgeville is the fastest growing city in Northeast Ohio. Because of the partnership between the city and school district, it has wisely leveraged shared resources throughout the years. For example, the city service department helps maintain and manage repairs to pipes and other school building infrastructure. The fire and police departments not only perform annual building checks, “they give us tips and thoughts on what we need to address with regard to school safety,” Caserio says. “They work hand in hand to be sure our staff and students are prepared for any emergency, and the school resources in our building are a shared agreement between the two entities.”
This collaboration and others are what triggered a larger discussion
about how to deliver necessary new school buildings and long-desired recreation facilities while saving cost for residents.
ON THE HORIZON
Plans for the new police station are complete with an eye on breaking ground soon.
A new police station for North Ridgeville is on the horizon following the successful 2021 0.81-mill bond issue for the $12.5-million new facility that will include a 21,326-square-foot station and 7,800-square-foot evidence storage building. Police Chief Mike Freeman says the building’s location is ideal.
“We are close to the schools, and our children are the most important asset this community has,” he says.
Two school resource officers are staffed on the school campus daily. With the new police station a couple minutes away, “We could easily have eight officers on campus within a very short period of time,” Freeman says.
The new police station was a necessity for fast-growing North Ridgeville, Freeman adds. “We’re no longer a sleepy small-town community, and when I leave [this position], my guess is we’ll have 50,000 residents — and the building of this police station gives us an opportunity to accommodate that future growth,” he says.
The pre-engineered metal storage building, which saves cost, will include spaces for cars, a kennel for lost dogs and an evidence processing and drying room along with storage. Architectural Vision Group (AVG) drew up the plans for this and the police station facility.
“Now, we are in the construction bidding stage,” Freeman says.
Groundbreaking and construction will follow for an expected 18 months to two years. “People are proud of it, and as a stakeholder in this community, we want people to be proud of their community.” — KH
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Your North Ridgeville Library has programming for all ages; including story times, enriching STEM activities for school-age students, tweens and teens, craft and maker programs, book discussions, writing groups, tech programs and much more. Using our Charlie Cart, a rolling kitchen, the library offers culinary programs and cooking demos. We also offer passport services, multiple meeting spaces for the public, free wi-fi, convenient curbside services at our drive-up window, 24/7 holds lockers, fishing poles and adult bicycles for loan and a StoryWalk® at South Central Park.
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Safer Streets
Roadway and infrastructure projects are paving the way for residents to seamlessly navigate the city.
BY KRISTEN HAMPSHIRE
Atypical four-way intersection has 32 conflict points — that’s nearly three dozen “accident zones” at any given time. On the other hand, roundabouts have eight conflict points, which is 75% less, shares Daniel Rodriguez, city engineer for North Ridgeville.
“By their nature, roundabouts slow down traffic. Not only does that reduce vehicle accidents, but the conflict points are also usually property damage type crashes with typically no injuries,” he adds, explaining why the city has two operating roundabouts and one ready for construction at Stoney Ridge, Mills and Avalon roads.
The new roundabout will be peanut shaped — essentially two back-to-back roundabouts because of the offset intersections. “It will allow traffic to flow much better,” Rodriguez says, relating that the existing roundabouts at Mills Road and State Route 83, and Chestnut Ridge Road and Alternate State Route 83, have proven to be highly effective in decreasing crashes and promoting overall driving safety.
Beyond roundabouts, the city is in 2 the midst of several other engineering and infrastructure projects that will make navigating the roadways safer 60 60 602022196 CELEBRATING and easier. One is the Cypress Avenue YEARS extension, which is expected to spur development in an area of the city that affords highway access.
“The street was built a number of years ago and dead-ended at a point, so we are going to extend that roadway within a 70-acre area to Lorain Road so it will have more access to Interstate 480 and State Route 10,” Rodriguez says. “We are hoping that will bring more business into the city of North Ridgeville, which would be an asset to the community.”
The city acquired property to complete the project and developed roadway plans. It will soon go to bid, and depending on the results, the project could begin late fall.
The Stoney Ridge Road watermain project is before council and is a continuation of the road’s watermain improvements. Already, the city has removed and replaced the old watermain on the road beginning at Center Ridge 2 Road to Schaefer Drive. “This would pick up from there and go to Sandy Ridge Drive,” Rodriguez says, adding that the deteriorating watermain 60 60 602022196 CELEBRATING prompts breaks and needs replacement. YEARS
Meanwhile, realigning Barres Road and Ravenna Drive will correct an offset intersection and improve safety.
“Right now, there are a couple of leftturn lanes that are offset, and it would make that entire area safer to bring it to one location so all turn lanes are facing the same direction,” Rodriguez explains.
