Strongsville City Council To Spend $494,000 on Gym Equipment

Strongsville’s city council has decided to pay nearly half a million dollars for new fitness equipment at the Walter F. Ehrnfelt Recreation & Senior Center.

The council voted 6 to 1 to allocate $494,000 in funding to the center. Councilman Matt Schonhut was the lone voice of dissent.

In Schonhut’s view, it would be better to wait until April when the council’s Finance Committee could discuss the proposal. Schonhut argued that the funding would be better spent on repairing damaged roads and preventing property flooding, reported Cleveland.com.

The city has announced a plan to spend $2.5 million on repairs to stormwater management systems, but the source of that funding has yet to be determined.

More money is also planned to be allotted for repairs to the fitness center as well. An additional $600,000 will need to be allocated to renovate the locker rooms, according to Mayor Tom Perciak’s ‘State of the City’ address.

But the mayor also noted in the address why these debates about money have become more contentious. Since 2010, the city has faced steep budget cuts because federal and state funding reductions that have placed more of the burden on local governments.

“It’s another gap placed on local government, and it’s a gap we’ve had to close,” said Mayor Perciak.

According to Cleveland.com, Bryan Bogre, the director of the recreation center, told the city council that there’s significant demand for improvements to the fitness equipment. "I'm hearing multiple times a week how crappy and fragile the equipment is," he said.

But as long as there are budget constraints, there will be disagreements about how to allocate that money.

"We could have the best recreation center in the world, but if streets are crumbling and properties are flooding, we don't have too much to brag about," Schonhut said.

With around a dozen new restaurants and businesses planning to open in the city, government officials hope to bring in more revenue. But this will take time, and expanding businesses also make their own demands on city resources.

Photo Credit: John Hickey-Fry via Flickr