Q. What is the ballot issue City Council is considering for the November 2022 election?
A: A bond issue in the amount of $25,000,000 to fund a new Fire/EMS, Police, and Administrative Services Facility to be repaid annually over a maximum of 28 years.
Q. Why is a new Fire/EMS, Police, and Administrative Services Facility needed?
A. Our city’s vital safety services have outgrown the space. The last substantial investment to the building was the 1963 addition of the Police Department and part of the administrative offices. Much of the building at 1016 Grandview Avenue is 98 years old and is operationally obsolete. The building lacks functional necessities to meet 21st century standards, including haz-mat protection zones, security features, fire/EMS living quarters, police interview rooms and holding areas, elevators and other ADA-compliant elements.
Q. Why build a new facility rather than expand and improve the existing building?
A. The site at 1016 Grandview Avenue simply is not large enough to accommodate needed building expansion and adequate parking. Moreover, safety services are 24/7 operations; to build a new building at the current site would require interim relocation of vital Fire/EMS and Police services.
Q. Where would the new Fire/EMS, Police, and Administrative Services Facility be located?
A: Based on community input during the 2018 Spaces & Places planning process, the new Fire/EMS, Police, and Administrative Services Facility would be located at 1525 Goodale (the site of the former Public Services complex).
Q. What would happen with the current site at 1016 Grandview Avenue?
A: The site at 1016 Grandview Avenue would be converted to parkland – providing a 1.5-acre expansion of the adjacent Wyman Woods Park.
Q. How much will the proposed bond issue cost me?
A: With voter approval of the proposed bond issue, most homeowners would pay $136 per $100,000 of market value annually for a single-family home. According to the County Auditor’s Office, the current average market value of a single-family home in Grandview Heights is $465,000, so the average cost per homeowner would be approximately $632 annually.