City receives bond measure of $24 million
Photo by Charlie Boothe
Cleveland City Council recently approved an insurance bond of $24 million to fund various infrastructure projects.
According to MacroTrends, the city has grown in the last year; however, infrastructure within the city has not grown equally. To help with this issue, the city council has approved the issuance of $24 million in general obligation bonds.
According to Mayor Kevin Brooks, it has been decades since the city has seen a bond issuance on this level.
Brooks said loan money for the bond initiative was already factored into this year’s budget, so there should not be a tax increase on Cleveland residents.
According to Brooks, one of the most pressing infrastructure concerns within the city is traffic.
“Traffic has done nothing but increase. The volume of traffic has increased, the times of traffic have increased and the amount of traffic has increased. But the streets have not,” said Brooks.
The first step to easing traffic pressures is maintaining and fixing the roads.
“Downtown parking has always been an emphasis for businesses downtown,” said councilman Tom Casada of District Three. Both he and Brooks mentioned the possibility of building a parking garage downtown to help ease traffic congestion in the area.
According to Councilman David May of District Four, various solutions are being discussed regarding the traffic issues.
“We have a project for Inman Street. We are talking about the possibility of an overpass across the railroad, which would help a lot,” said May.
Another infrastructure issue mentioned was the city’s water system. Cleveland Utilities was issued a bond of $3.1 million.
Brooks said Cleveland Utilities has an enormous responsibility in Cleveland. They must be able to successfully provide water and power to the city as a whole, even as the city continues to grow.
The city planner's office will choose specific projects to spend the money on within the next few weeks.
The next city council meeting is on Monday, April 11. The council meets at 1 p.m. for work session and 3 p.m. for voting session.
