Friendly reminder that next year (November 4, 2025) Chagrin Falls will elect four people to Village Council (over half of the seats). All members will hold four-year terms, completing council’s transition to staggered terms (see the link below for more details and a diagram).

If you’ve ever considered running and want to hear more about the reality of the job, please get in touch! Happy to talk to you, over email, on the phone, or in person – whatever you’re most comfortable with: brian@councilmandrum.net

https://drumforchagrin.com

I just published my recap of Monday’s Safety Committee meeting, where we reviewed a variety of improvements we can make to the streetscape in the wake of the North Main Street bridge project. Very happy with the progress we’ve made so far and I’m cautiously optimistic that these changes will actually be implemented.

If you care about this stuff (and you should!) take a look and let me know what you think. I’m planning to call another meeting for December 9 to keep the momentum going, so please join if you can…

Safety Committee November Meeting

Surprised I missed this September Wall Street Journal profile of the Rocket Cars and Jen Heitman, who–thanks to the Jaycees–has been kind enough to host Council members and their families in the last couple of Blossom Parades. Such a cool, unique legacy!

Also, the idea of going 135 mph in one of these is absolutely terrifying…

You Don’t Need to Be a Billionaire to Ride in Her Rocket Car: Jen Heitman’s father rescued an amusement-park ride and turned it into drivable nostalgia

Archived copy: https://archive.ph/2SdKH

The village may have an approved budget before the fiscal year starts. Sidewalks might get some much-needed attention. Grove Hill Park still not complete after four-and-a-quarter years. Details and more in my notes from last night’s village council meeting.

I think traffic engineers are often so focused on cars that common sense goes out the window and anyone outside a vehicle is endangered. Here they’ve completely obscured the crosswalk entrance by placing this giant highway-sized sign on southbound Main Street. Be careful out there!

Beautiful day for a father-and-son bike ride down the bridle trail as far as the river. This is enough for him right now, but I’m looking forward to the day when the Solon connection is complete and we can include a stop at Mitchell’s Homemade.

So glad to see this proper sidewalk and curb going in at the future home of Two Café & Boutique, replacing over a hundred feet of solid pavement and driveway apron. The fewer places that cars and people can occupy the same space, the better. I know of a couple other spots in town that could use the same treatment.

Chagrin Falls will be featured this week on the PBS show City Centric.

It will air Friday at 8:30 pm and again Saturday at 1:30 am and 6:00 pm on WNEO 45.1 / WEAO 49.1, and stream live at pbswesternreserve.org/live-tv. They will be featuring several local organizations and establishments using the tagline “Explore a timeless village that thrives on creativity”.

The school bus is disappearing. Welcome to the era of the school pickup line.

What a depressing milestone: most kids are now driven to and from school by private vehicles. So glad I live in a place where both my kids can now walk, bike, or scooter to school. I’m specially thankful for the many crossing guards who volunteer rain or shine to help make sure they get there safely.

Interested in becoming a crossing guard? Please get in touch!

The Facilities & Services Committee will meet Monday at 6:45 pm and Village Council will start 7:30 pm. In both meeting we’ll be looking at an extension to the village contract with Kimble Recycling & Waste Disposal, a contract amendment to address cost increases to the Police and Fire Renovation project. Facilities & Services will also be discussing the possibility of community-wide survey in 2025.

Facilities & Services August Meeting

Village Council Late August Meeting

I’ve shared my notes from last night’s Safety Committee meeting where we talked about a number of changes we could make to improve the downtown streetscape.

Safety Committee July Meeting

Stopped by Grove Hill Park to check out the repairs to the stairs. Several of the treads were broken and have been replaced with new stone.

Stop signs are coming to East Orange Street and North Street at Mill Street.

Traffic Notice: New 3-way stop at Orange, North, Mill Streets

Disappointing news from the Grove Hill Park Commission meeting this morning. With no bids solicited and no contract awarded, the half-finished projects from 2023 won’t even be able to start until the second half of this year, putting the construction of the actual park at risk.

More Delays for Grove Hill Park

The village received some complaints about the safety of the crosswalk on Mill Street where it meets East Orange Street and North Street, so I spent some time observing it, studying its design, and thinking about how it can be improved.

An Analysis of the Intersection of East Orange, North, and Mill Streets