The Department of Public Service consists of the Division of Building, Engineering and the Divisions of Public Works and Public Properties, including the following crews:
- Facility maintenance
- Streets and sewers
- Landscaping
- Sign shop
- Fleet management and equipment repair
The department's responsibilities include code compliance, infrastructure replacement and providing a wide variety of services, including,
but not limited to, solid waste collection, recycling, street and sewer repairs, maintenance of city properties, maintenance of green space and assistance to other city departments.
Please refer to our service, building and engineering pages for further information.
NOTICE
Middleburg Heights Residents -- Beginning Feb. 29, Solid Waste/Rubbish collection is changing to Wednesdays.
Basement Flooding
Since the unprecedented rainfall in July of this year, city officials have had numerous meetings regarding sewer backups, our sewer systems and the increased intensity and frequency of torrential storms in our city. Here are some facts about our sewer systems.
- We have a combined total of approximately 12,000 sewer connections (storm and sanitary) in our city.
- Of those 12,000 connections, roughly 200 residents have reported problems; that is only 1.7%. So except for a small number of isolated areas, our sewers are working.
- This is largely due to the fact that we spend nearly $1 million per year on sewer maintenance.
- All main sanitary sewers are flushed, cleaned, and filmed for defects on a 3-5 year basis.
Since August 2007, we have corrected or are correcting several significant areas of concern. Those areas are as follows:
- We have acquired the private storm sewer on Uhlin, Old Pleasant Valley, and Shawnee. We have cleaned and televised most of these sewers. We are in the process of installing additional manholes on that sewer to improve the cleaning, maintenance, and flow of water.
- On Ivy Court, we redesigned the outlet to the retention basin to improve the flow of water out of the basin and corrected the flooding and backup problem.
- At Engle Lake and Engle, we again redesigned the retention basin to change the flow of water, reducing the chances of flooding in that area.
- Near the intersection of Smith Road and Big Creek, the city restored a natural ditch to original condition to help remove water from this area.
- Additionally, the city has resolved numerous backup and flooding issues on individual residential properties. We offer our residents an uncommon service via our contract with the Cuyahoga County Sanitary Engineer. Free of charge, we snake, televise, and remove roots and other blockages from residential laterals, correcting problems experienced by our residents. In a large number of cases, simply by snaking laterals we have corrected sewer backups experienced by our residents at no charge to the homeowner.
In addition to those specific completed projects, we also increased our cleaning of catch basins and maintenance of main sewers, which has helped remove storm water around the city.
The city of Middleburg Heights remains committed to helping residents reduce the chances of flooding to the maximum degree possible and fully supports continuing and increasing our annual sewer maintenance as well as the assistance we offer our residents in regard to flooding and sewer back-ups.
The final initiative we have taken in regard to sewer backups is formalizing a plan which we have had in place since 2007. This plan is designed to diagnose any sewer-related problems our residents are facing and to assist residents in understanding and developing a solution to their backups. For future reference, here is the detailed 8 Step Plan we will be utilizing in regard to investigating and solving any flooding or sewer backup issues.
- Resident reports flooding/sewer backup to the Service Department.
- The Service Department mails a flooding/sewer backup survey to the resident and creates a file specific to that address/homeowner.
- The City Engineer reviews the returned survey and determines the next course of action.
- In most cases this will mean an additional letter to the resident, directing them to contact the Cuyahoga County Sanitary Engineers (CCSE) to schedule diagnostic testing.
- Once scheduled, the CCSE will clean/snake the sanitary and storm laterals and then perform the required testing, such as smoke testing, dye testing, and televising the laterals.
- The CCSE will provide the City Engineer with a copy of their report detailing the findings.
- At that time, the City Engineer will analyze the report and determine a course of action.
- Once a course of action is determined, the City Engineer will contact the homeowners by phone and mail to discuss and explain any possible deficiencies and the solutions.
While the above process does not solve issues overnight, it will allow us to identify any shortcomings in our sewer systems. It will also help minimize the impact on our residents by locating specific issues that may be the responsibility of the homeowner and eliminating unnecessary costs.
Anyone concerned about a wet or flooded basement can click the links below for a brochure that will explain how to lessen the chances of this occurring and how to mitigate the impact should it occur.
Basement Brochure Pt 1 (PDF)
Basement Brochure Pt 2 (PDF)
Service Director earns Innovation Award
Service Director Frank Castelli has won an "Innovation in Floodplain Management" award from The Ohio Floodplain Management Association. This award recognizes those who demonstrate an "outside of the box" approach to programs, projects, publications and activities that deal with:
- Promotion of flood loss reduction,
- Stewardship of valuable floodplain resources,
- Economic sustainability, and/or
- Quality improvement
