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(Recorded April 8, 2026) In this episode, Mayor Broska talks about:
(0:28) - Road construction [Page Road bridge, Seasons Road, Town Square]
(7:46) - Restaurant construction [Chick-Fil-A, Winking Lizard, Texas Roadhouse]
(9:13) - Gateway Green this summer
(11:34) - Solar panels and wind turbines
(15:47) - Hometown Hero Banners and Parks & Rec magazine
(0:28) - Road construction [Page Road bridge, Seasons Road, Town Square]
(7:46) - Restaurant construction [Chick-Fil-A, Winking Lizard, Texas Roadhouse]
(9:13) - Gateway Green this summer
(11:34) - Solar panels and wind turbines
(15:47) - Hometown Hero Banners and Parks & Rec magazine
Creators and Guests
What is Streetsboro, That's My Town!?
Produced by 88.9 WSTB, "Streetsboro, That's My Town" looks at events and topics of interest about the City of Streetsboro.
Produced by eighty eight nine WSTB, this is Streetsboro. That's My Town. I'll look into events and topics of interest around the city of Streetsboro and a pleasant good afternoon to you, mister mayor. We're talking with mayor Glenn Broska for our April edition and Welcome, Bob. Thank you.
Bob Long:Was a good evening.
Glenn Broska:For doing this. I really do appreciate. This is a great opportunity for us to be able to inform the people.
Bob Long:Yep. Let them know what's going on here. Yep. There are a lot of things I wanna talk about today besides road construction. But since that's a hot topic, I guess we'll start with that because it seems that the road construction list just continues to
Glenn Broska:grow. Yeah. None of them are really within our control. But one of them is a project that's endorsed by the city. The other two really kinda happened to spring up.
Glenn Broska:You know, the turnpike problem on Page Road, that is definitely was something that was beyond our role of control. They are slated to have that reopened on June 1. I have not had an update from them yet, actually in a couple weeks, I'm waiting to hear that. And then just over the weekend, we had a catastrophic failure of a very deep culvert on Seasons Road, just before the railroad tracks. And because it was wider than 10 feet, it was considered a county bridge.
Glenn Broska:And so thankfully, that's not something that we have to pay for. The county is going to foot the bill on that. Believe it or not, it was on their radar. They had looked at that and knew that it needed to
Bob Long:be
Glenn Broska:replaced and kind of out of the goodness of their heart, they were trying to put it off, at least until we could get some of the construction done down here because that's a, you know, that's a, a goal around road. Well, mother nature had her way with it.
Bob Long:Three inches of rain in a couple of days did it to us.
Glenn Broska:Yes. It sure did. So I guess it's gonna get moved up the moved up the list.
Bob Long:Well, Chuckie, so, people haven't figured this out yet. You can get down to the railroad tracks from forty but you have to go on to Ravenna Road to come the other way.
Glenn Broska:Yeah, it's a relatively close detour. If you're going down Seasons Road from 43, you make a left on Ferguson Road and Ferguson Road will take you down to Ravenna Road and then you turn right on Ravenna Road and that will take you back up to Seasons and you can come on a backward. Because I had a couple of people ask, can they still go to Trail Lake Park? Oh yeah. You know, they still can.
Glenn Broska:It's just a it's it's just it's closer to get there from Seasons Road than it is to get there from Ferguson. But yeah, that's the that area all is still accessible.
Bob Long:Pedro Bridge, Seasons Road, the only thing we have left going, the other area of course, is the square right out your window here. I noticed today that the first section, the Northeast side, they've got it down
Glenn Broska:to dirt. I know that there have been some complaints of it's not going fast enough and they should be working 20 fourseven on it and stuff like that. And that, you know, the projects just don't happen that way. The projects are normally scheduled Monday through Friday, early morning to early evening. And started what here, this is called the first pour, and you saw it.
Glenn Broska:It is on the North Side Of 14. And the first couple days, they were breaking up the concrete, and then they had to remove it. And now there's actually a few folks out there now, and what they had to do was put the subsurface drain in, and then they'll cover it with some aggregate, and then they'll start the Porsche. Once they get this side done, then we'll reconfigure all the lanes and stuff out there and start them on other side down, and then the third phase will be the center portion. It's proceeding on schedule.
Glenn Broska:I actually wish they could do it 20 fourseven, but it's not the amount of money that that would cost, it just makes it cost prohibitive. And like I said, once we get through this center portion here, it should be considerably better. We get to the resurfacing aspect and that's not near as obtrusive as this is, but it's getting there. And I gotta tell you, Bob, I'm happy with about 99% of the people. They've weathered the storm good.
Glenn Broska:They've been kind and courteous to each other. They've let people out. Most of the people have followed the detours. There are some signs and things that we're looking at that can serve to be confusing to people. And we have to get with ODOT to get those things taken care of.
Glenn Broska:But just we had spoken before. And the biggest thing is when someone stops to make a left turn, it stops up all the traffic. And I was telling a story the other day, we were coming back from Costco and we hit the green light at Walmart. This was on a Sunday, so traffic wasn't that bad, but we made it all the way down to the square. When I come up the corner here, we still had a green.
Glenn Broska:I could see on the crosswalk thing there's a second countdown. We're starting down at twenty five seconds. And then when it gets down to zero, the light turns yellow. Well, I was back there and it had twenty two seconds. I figured I'm gonna make it all the way through here without stopping.
Glenn Broska:Well, lo and behold, guy three cars in front of me, okay, he had to make a left turn. He stopped all of us there, and there was a long line of people that were westbound. We waited for the entire twenty five seconds for this guy and we ended up not making a light. And you know, the whole point of the story is if people would just do what they're supposed to do, the traffic would flow significantly better. Yep.
Bob Long:I got stuck in one of those all the weekend.
Glenn Broska:Frustrating. Is, it is very frustrating. It is very frustrating, but I'm happy with the progress and it'll be over before you know it. One thing I would like to ask the people is if you can please patronize the businesses that are in the construction area. It seems as though the people that are truly in the area are the ones that are suffering the most.
Glenn Broska:Rita's, Brown Derby, O'Hooligans, some of those places are suffering the most. So, you know, if you got a few extra minutes, please patronize those folks and, you know, show them some love. I talked to the folks at Wild Eagle and they says it has not had an effect on them. I talked to the gentleman at BW3, he says, We're down a little bit, but not profoundly. But when I talked to the guy at Brown Derby, he said, yeah, it's hitting him hard.
Glenn Broska:So if you get an opportunity, go and have a nice steak and relax for a while.
Bob Long:June is gonna be a big month for us then because that's when the center should be done, bridge hopefully will be done. Yep. And that's about the time the culvert
Glenn Broska:I'm should be hoping the culvert is done by then.
Bob Long:So all of a sudden in the month, people just suck it up and hold on
Glenn Broska:Well, until on until the June. Yes. Give it give us till the June, and we'll be we'll be happy. Can you imagine if we had Joggle Lake and SeaWorld traffic in this?
Bob Long:Yeah. We wouldn't have this.
Glenn Broska:No. No. No. No. No.
Bob Long:They would they would by the time you'd get there, they'd be closed for the night.
Glenn Broska:Yeah. Exactly.
Bob Long:Let's talk about some, happier news. I was down the road this little while ago, I think Chick fil A is coming along nicely.
Glenn Broska:Yeah. They even have a sign up front that says it's the Chick fil A.
Bob Long:Uh-huh.
Glenn Broska:Yeah. They, they put fritters in last week. I haven't been down there in the last couple days or since Sunday, but I know wall should be going up pretty soon. And they're looking at a 22 construction, which will put them sometime around the September. We're waiting to hear back from WKL.
Glenn Broska:Lizard. They should be ready to go in a little bit. They had to, do some stuff with their plans, what they call value engineering, and, they're working on that, but they should be ready to go pretty soon.
Bob Long:I've heard a couple of POs. Are they still coming or not? Oh, absolutely. Okay.
Glenn Broska:Absolutely. Yeah, they're, in fact, Patrick and I went up to, to see him a couple of weeks ago and, we're gonna be, we're gonna be okay. Sometimes, you know, this stuff happens.
Bob Long:Daytona stuff happening, what's new with Texas Roadhouse?
Glenn Broska:Know, we talked about a whole lot. You know, once they, or once the developer announced that they were coming, they went dark on us. We have not heard that they are not coming, okay? Okay. So I will hold on to the hope that there's just a hitch and a giddy up and that sometime in the near future we'll be hearing from them, Cause I really want them here.
Glenn Broska:And I know a lot of people do. We'll see.
Bob Long:Okay. Summer type weather is coming now and here on out. It looks like it's gonna be nice. Yeah. No more March type days in
Glenn Broska:the middle of- Oh geez.
Bob Long:In the April. So let's talk a little bit about what's coming up this summer. Gateway Green, right out here outside of City Hall by the fire department. Any plans for that this summer?
Glenn Broska:I don't wanna say we're gonna finish it off, but we're
Bob Long:gonna
Glenn Broska:continue. We're in a design phase right now for a gazebo. We're looking at about 40 feet wide and 20 feet deep where you can have a decent sized band up there. And like we said before, it's not going to a Zeppelin or anything like that or Pink Floyd, but we'll have some small bands. We can have movies in the park over there.
Glenn Broska:It's going to open up a lot of opportunities for us to do. And then we did change the plan a little bit. We had a lot of sidewalks bisecting it. And what we did was we decided to change it around to where the sidewalk goes around the inside of the oval. And then there'll be one cross sidewalk.
Glenn Broska:We want to get farmers markets over there, but we're still working on the logistics of something like that. But it'll be open for the people to use. I mean, if you're going throw a frisbee and a ball and stuff like that, you know, we're going to be fine. You know, it bears mentioning the university hospitals really pulled a solid with us and they did give us permission to utilize their parking lot on the nights and the weekends, and it will more than double the parking we have available. I think we counted 167 parking spaces over there.
Glenn Broska:So we'll be able to accommodate around three fifty cars total between the two locations. And that's quite a bit.
Bob Long:How do people get from that parking lot over to here?
Glenn Broska:Well, ready to start the project now to In install a fact, I just awarded the bid today to install a crosswalk here. Because if you look at the sign now, it says you're gonna go down on a square and cross. Well, we're gonna have a crosswalk right here on this traffic light. Very good. And we're keeping on moving.
Glenn Broska:Keep on keeping on, you know?
Bob Long:Okay. Something the county commissioners have been talking about recently because some townships were talking about this and wanted a blanket restriction on solar panels, I think, wind turbines, and they've recently decided that they're not gonna do a blanket, but they're gonna handle each case as it comes along. We talked about this back in the fall, I believe it was, about our our solar panel usage in the city. What's the status of that now? Zoning was still working on it back then.
Glenn Broska:Well, we did pass a new zoning ordinance. And basically what it says is for a residential type use, you do have to get a permit, and you do have to show how the panels are going to be installed. There is a height limit on roofs. You can't go over height limit for that particular zoning district. There are not difficult regulations to be met.
Glenn Broska:And it does include the elevated ones which are on the roof, and it does include the ones that are on the ground. For residential and even some businesses, you know, there's not anything that's over the top about it. But when it comes to like solar farms, those are regulated by the state. Those are not regulated by us. Once they get, and I was talking to one of our planners, I can't remember what the actual threshold is.
Glenn Broska:The parameters are that the electricity that you produce on your property should be used for your property. And granted, there are sometimes you can sell it back to the grid. But to have a completely commercial solar panel farm where you are manufacturing or creating electricity to be sold back. That is a different set of rules and it comes under the state. So basically as a resident, put solar panels on your roof, can put them in your yard.
Glenn Broska:All we ask is that you submit a set of plans so that we can review them to make sure that they are in line with our current regulations and the regulations are not hard to meet. They're not restrictive.
Bob Long:Now, could the state decide they want to put a solar fan form in Streetsboro?
Glenn Broska:I don't know who the hell would want to put a solar fan in Ohio. We don't have enough sun for it, you know? But, yeah, the state, the state would tell us if someone was going to put one in, and they have certain regulations that they have to follow.
Bob Long:What about wind turbines? I've never,
Glenn Broska:I don't know Bob. I don't know what we have in regulations as far as that goes.
Bob Long:I'm just saying, like, up at Bainbridge, Kinston High School has one right beside their football field to generate electricity for their school system. You go, I went up to it for a soccer game, you're doing it. You know, it spins around a little bit.
Glenn Broska:We've never had, to my knowledge, we've never had anybody ask to put one up. And I'm sure that it's in there somewhere, but right off the top of my head, I don't recall what we have for wind farms. I mean, I think they're kind of cool. I mean, I wouldn't mind putting a little one up for, you know, for individual use, you know.
Bob Long:They scared the bejeebers out of me when I first saw them, when they were brand new, they frightened me because they just looked, they're so huge, reminding me of this sci fi movies, but they weren't walking, so it was okay. Then I got used to them and they are kind of cool, I think.
Glenn Broska:Well, know when we drive across Pennsylvania and when you get up near the mountains that they have over there, there's a whole farm that extends for miles and miles up there. And I imagine it probably produces quite a bit of electricity. Know that some of the environmentalists and stuff, they have issues with it because birds fly into them and things like that, but I've never encountered a wind, a turbine here. I've seen the ones that look more like a barber pole instead of the big propeller driven ones. They look more like a barber pole.
Glenn Broska:And those seem like they'd be pretty cool.
Bob Long:I think we have one up by the science center up in Cleveland. Yeah. There's one up there. Yep. That's someone we know of.
Bob Long:I've seen that and and Kenston High School. Hometown Hero banners. You know, we got a lot of those around town, and I understand that it is possible possible if somebody has somebody they want to remember or honor.
Glenn Broska:They just have to call (330) 626-3802. That is the phone number for Parks Direct department and they can take your info and everything else. I believe that the banners will be changed June 1. The banner program was something we just started in the last couple years, to put up the seasonal banners, to put out the Christmas banners, things like that, and then the hometown hero banners. All that information is processed through the Parks and Rec department, and that's (330) 626-3802.
Bob Long:I saw in the Parks and Rec handout that they mail out to people. I think June 1 is, I think, the deadline this year that to check your Parks and Rec handouts that they everything they put in the mailbox. Gets it in the mailbox, so check that out.
Glenn Broska:Well, Bob, I keep my copy at home because most anything and everything that the city does in relation to the Parks and Rec is put into that. It's complete, it's to date. I mean, people ask me all the time, you know, when's the garage sale? Well, it's in there. You know, how do you register?
Glenn Broska:It's in there. And, you know, a lot of people think it, sometimes think it's junk mail and they just give it a toss and you shouldn't. I mean, I keep mine at home, and I work here,
Bob Long:you know? Yeah, keep mine at home as well. Yeah. And I go through and mark things and cut things out and hang them on the fridge. Heck yeah.
Bob Long:Alrighty. Well, I think we've covered everything that I wanted to cover today. Okay. Anything else that you wanna throw in before we come?
Glenn Broska:No, just continue to be courteous and be kind. We will get through this. It is not traffic getting like we thought it was going to be. There is a little bit of delay and things are a little bit slow. But if people do everything that they're supposed to do, their traffic moves smoother.
Glenn Broska:At the end of this is the brass ring. The square will be completely rebuilt. We'll have smooth roads on two of our very main roads in the city, and we won't have to worry about resurfacing for about another twelve to fifteen years, and we won't have to worry about redoing a square for another thirty years. So take that off your worry thing, you know?
Bob Long:That's right. Then just pioneer trips, avoid the rush hours. Other than that has been fine.
Glenn Broska:Yeah, I mean, I've driven through a lot of times on the weekend even after 06:30, 07:00 at night, Streetsboro will never be Mayberry, but the traffic moves pretty good at night. It doesn't move too bad. Once we get rid of the 12,000 commuters in here that come in here to work, and it's just the city folks that live here, the traffic is never bad. I've been in bad traffic before, Bob. I went to Atlanta a few months ago.
Bob Long:Went to LA once, just once. We don't
Glenn Broska:know what bad traffic is.
Bob Long:That's right.
Glenn Broska:I guess it's all relative,
Bob Long:you know? And the whole thing is mental. If you know it's gonna be bad, if you know it's gonna be slow, you're prepared for it and just deal with it. So if you're coming through town, in the rush hour, just remember,
Glenn Broska:it's gonna bad and just take your time, be patient, be kind to your neighbors, be courteous, and, you know, the world will be a better place. And God knows we need this world to be a better place, you know?
Bob Long:Indeed we do. Very good. Thank you, Mayor.
Glenn Broska:Thank you, Bob.
Bob Long:I've been talking to Streetsboro Mayor Glenn Broska on this April episode of Streetsboro, That's My Town. Thanks for listening. I'm Bob Long.