Richmond Heights has seen some changes over the past year. With the first store officially open in the new Belle Oaks Marketplace mixed use development, the future of what the city will look like is starting to take shape. However, Mayor Kim Thomas said that a large focus for the city will be addressing a longstanding problem with some of the buildings used by different city departments. A future Firestone location is seen in Richmond Heights. (Frank Mecham – The News-Herald) She added that replacing the current service garage, which is in “total disrepair,” was in the works, but because of the price tag of an estimated $17 million to $23 million it will take more planning to not only come up with the funds but also a location that would fit the many needs of the city. “What we do know is the current space that we have right now is not large enough,” Thomas said in a recent interview. “So we are currently looking at areas… where we can rebuild the service garage. And when we talk about rebuilding the service garage, we are also talking about including the Parks and Recreation Department because they work really close together. “We applied for a $37 million grant at the federal level, and we made the first cut. However we didn’t make the second cut. “But we will continue to apply for grant funding.” Finding a new location for the service garage also has federal implications. Thomas said that the city has been cited by the Environmental Protection Agency for storing service vehicles outside, which the city started to do because of the lack of space in the current facilities. Additionally, because of the collapse of their salt bin a few years ago, the city has had to use the vehicle storage area to keep road salt, leaving departments in a salty juggling act until they find grant money to cover building a new one. “Last year we hired an engineer to examine the garage, and they were able to ‘shore it up’ to make it useful for last year and to put salt in it,” Thomas said. “However, it’s still shored up, so we applied for the $450,000 (grant) stars aligned, and we got it. “The space in the service garage is too small right now to rebuild, to take the $450,000 and build the salt bin there, so that is one of the real reasons that it is critical that we find funding sources and partners because we want to make sure we stay compliant in that.” Going into next year, Thomas said she is turning her focus on the businesses and the infrastructure located in the north side of the city. The city recently entered into a partnership with the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission to conduct a survey as part of the Richmond-Chardon Roads Streetscape and Business Revitalization Plan, which Thomas hopes will draw new businesses to the city. “(We) will continue to assist property owners in filling vacant storefronts with businesses and services that would benefit the surrounding residential neighborhoods,” Thomas added in a written statement. “We will continue to encourage and assist businesses and individuals in taking advantage of economic programs at the local, county and state levels.” A historical marker tells the history of Greenwood Farm, 264 Richmond Road. (Frank Mecham – The News-Herald) A multiphase process that started with a survey asking residents how they use the area followed with recommendations and a “Final Document,” according to the website. Thomas said that the information stemming from the plan will help shape how they attract new business to the area or encourage current businesses to expand to older parts of the city. “When I took office three years ago, we started rebranding the city,” Thomas said. “At one time the slogan was ‘Moving the City Forward,’ and there were people saying, ‘Well, we haven’t really moved that much.’ “My slogan now is, ‘A Brighter Tomorrow’… and that brighter tomorrow is basically new development taking place, and it’s already here,” she added. “And the way that you do that is by building relationships with other community partners and with other organizations that want to do business with you. “I always tell my economic developer (Chelsey Kovar) we are open for business,” Thomas continued. “Whoever wants to do business with us, and if it’s a viable business, we definitely want to do business with them, as well.”