Council to advertise for bids, upgrade phones

Sheffield Lake City Council voted Feb. 26 to seek bids for the planned water main replacement on Harris Road. Sheffield Lake Superintendent Pat Hastings said the waterline replacement component of the project is expected to cost $250,000. The city is expecting the bidding process to take place between April and May with construction starting in June. City officials estimate the total cost of the water main replacement and repaving to be $1,052,400. The city will pay $254,500 with the remainder of the funding coming through a $295,000 grant and a $502,900 loan from the Ohio Public Works Commission. The city approved a $59,500 contract with Bramhall Engineering of Avon in November 2018 for the planning and design of the project. The project is among $5 million in infrastructure upgrades in Sheffield Lake including upgrades to Abbe Road and the Joyce E. Hanks Community Center expansion.

In his administrative report, Mayor Dennis Bring said the city has experienced several water breaks, including Harris Road. Citing Gov. Mike DeWine’s recent proposal to raise gasoline taxes to fund infrastructure improvement, Bring said the city will have to address aging infrastructure in the near future. “They’re worried about infrastructure, but they’re also worried about the roads and bridges,” the mayor said. “Well, our infrastructure is going to have to be addressed some day, too. “Mr. Hastings and I have been discussing this for the last two months and (we’ll) address it with a plan.” Bring said the city is going to continue assessing areas where upgrades are needed. Phone system upgrades Council also is examining upgrading the phone system at Sheffield Lake City Hall. According to documents released by the city, Sheffield Lake is spending close to $1,000 each month with CenturyLink. A physical review found that 18 phones were either no longer being used, or broken. A proposed upgrade is expected to save the city between $600 to $700 per month and the city would incur a one-time fee of $9,392 for equipment and installation, the documents show. “We’re paying the company $12K a year for service,” Bring said. “This will cost $1,000, so we’re saving $11K per year. “The speed of the phones will also upgrade our system quite a bit.”