The 'ounce of prevention' concept will be taken into account on the city's multi-family housing.
Updated: Feb. 02, 2025, 11:36 p.m.Contractors were onsite late last month to install a new boiler at this apartment complex on Fairhill Road in Shaker Heights, where the city issued an order to vacate in early January due to no heat.
The landlord and management company moved tenants in the 19-unit building to an area hotel while the new system was installed.SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Council voted last week to continue city collaborations with the Home Repair Resource Center and the Cleveland Restoration Society for various grant programs. City officials also planned further talks on more proactive monitoring of apartment buildings after council received letters from the Shaker Square Alliance and a tenant with ongoing heating issues. The latest contract with CRS only amounts to just over $27,000 for providing technical assistance in obtaining low-interest loans through its Heritage Home Program. But that adds up to considerable bang for the buck, City Economic Development Director Laura Englehart pointed outAs the largest non-governmental regional historic preservation organization in Ohio, CRS has provided more than $12.5 million in home repair and restoration loans to 217 Shaker Heights households since 2008. The Heritage Home Program targets houses built more than 50 years ago, more than 7,800 of those in Shaker that would be eligible for low-interest home restoration loans this year.Of the $200,000 allotted to HRRC in this year’s 18-month contract, $150,000 will be reserved as grant funds available to Shaker Heights residents for brick-and-mortar repairs. Contracting with HRRC since 2021 for all of the city’s own home repair programs, Englehart noted that Shaker has seen higher demand in recent years. The city used to average 25 households and about $42,000 a year for violation-based repairs from 2012-2022. In 2023, home repair grant spending exceeded $79,000 serving 52 households, prompting council to authorize $111,000 for brick-and-mortar improvements at the start of last year. Then with 47 projects completed or underway and $109,000 expended by July, council kicked in another $60,500 for more HRRC-administered programs to finish out the year. “While final data is still being compiled for 2024, we expect to fully expend the $166,000 available in the 2024 grant cycle,” Englehart said, adding there will be a “large pipeline of projects continuing into 2025.” This came in response to a question from Sean Malone about the “exponential growth” of the programs, with demand doubling not once but twice in recent years. Englehart said that council always has the option of adding more home improvement funds later in the year. Providing an earlier comparison between the two programs, Englehart said the average Heritage Home loan size from CRS over the past ten years is close to $64,000 and steadily increasing. Meanwhile, the maximum city-funded home repair grants of $3,500 are largely intended to help lower- and middle-income residents correct cited building code violations -- with considerable help coming from the HRRC.Council also received a letter written by Greg Bonanno on behalf of the Shaker Square Alliance taking note of “several incidents” primarily involving heat -- or lack of it -- in local apartment buildings. “It appears that the city’s only means of becoming aware of issues within a rental-unit property are through point-of-sale inspections and tenant complaints logged with Building and Housing,” Bonanno stated. Both methods can be considered reactive and unreliable, requiring either the sale of the property or tenants risking retaliation from landlords. Boilers can evade thorough city inspections during points-of-sale, which has led to the city serving tenants withThe Shaker Square Alliance goes on to make several proactive recommendations that include: -- Making the annual certificate of occupancy contingent on an inspection of major building components: roofs, heating and cooling, electrical, lighting, water, gas -- Requiring landlords to demonstrate “proof-preventive” maintenance activities, based on a schedule set by the city-- Funds or loans made available from the city to landlords for capital improvements.On the last item, Bonanno said that first responders may observe things about buildings or individual units “that might cause concern about livability.”, a resident of Shaker Lakes Apartments, three combined buildings with six different addresses on Kemper Road, Larchmere and Moreland boulevards. She said her apartment lost heat on Jan. 6, along with electricity in her kitchen, and conditions were not safe to return home for 10 days after that. Relatively new ownership told the city that any issues in the apartment complex remained isolated, with new equipment already installed. In the meantime, Carter added the landlord and management were not proactive in addressing those issues. She said they further denied her request for reasonable accommodations, forcing her to stay with friends. Carter believes landlords must be held more accountable, whether emergencies occur in single units or entire buildings. Councilwoman Nancy Moore commented how impressive the response of the Building and Housing Department has been to complaints from residents about any number of issues.“The issue is what we as a city do to proactively help residents in aging apartments, where systems are deteriorating to the point during the coldest weather and tenants literally cannot stay in their apartments.” Moore has requested an internal discussion by the departmental management team to bring back some proactive alternatives to council.But Weiss confirmed that he and Building and Housing Director Kyle Krewson recently spoke about ways for the city to “get out ahead of these problems.”Agreeing with Moore, Councilwoman Kim Bixenstine felt the Shaker Square Alliance made some “thoughtful recommendations.” Bixenstine looked forward to hearing from the administration on whether they would be feasible, in terms of costs and additional resources -- including personnel.the city’s natural gas aggregation program with Interstate Gas Supply , which expires at the end of March. But the contract will only cover six months, as opposed to the current two years, with the cost decreasing from April through September to $4.21 per “1,000 cubic feet .” This is down 35 cents from the IGS existing rate of $4.56 per MCF, with customers receiving “opt-out” letters this month.to six months for the roughly 6,500 residential and small commercial customers. In a nutshell, “given current market conditions, the city believes it’s in the best interests of program participants to offer a shorter, six-month term,” local officials said.If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.
Shaker-Heights-City-Council Shaker-Heights-Housing Shaker-Heights-Apartments Cleveland-Restoration-Society Home-Repair-Resource-Center Crs Hrrc
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Shaker Heights tenants with no heat since Christmas told to move outPeople living at one local apartment building have been without heat since Christmas Eve.
Read more »
Shaker Heights Apartment Building Evacuated Due to Lack of HeatCity officials issued a public nuisance declaration after residents reported no heat since Christmas. The building owner is providing temporary hotel accommodations while a new boiler is installed.
Read more »
Brunswick's Aidan Shaker Steps Up as Blue Devils Bounce BackAidan Shaker had a standout performance for Brunswick High School, leading them to victory against Cleveland Heights after a recent loss. Shaker showcased his improved skills, including ball handling, driving to the basket, and shot blocking, becoming a key scorer for the team.
Read more »
Drone Inspection Ordered for Crumbling Historic Building in Shaker HeightsShaker Heights officials approved a drone inspection of a historic building with a crumbling facade after the building's owner failed to meet deadlines for repairs.
Read more »
Shaker Heights Schools Potentially Impacted by PowerSchool Cybersecurity IncidentThe Shaker Heights City School District may have been affected by a cybersecurity incident involving PowerSchool, their student information system provider. PowerSchool reported the breach on December 28, 2024, stating that a compromised support account was used to access data.
Read more »
Shaker Heights apartment building has no heat in bone chilling temperaturesAlong with more snow predicted for Northeast Ohio, the bitterly cold temperatures will stick around, and that’s a big problem when you have no heat.
Read more »