News and Articles

Andrew Kory was sworn in as Police Chief at the City Council meeting September 14. Kory has been with the department since 2015. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2018 and later that year was assigned to the detective bureau.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Youngstown State University. The North Ridgeville native entered the police academy at Lorain County Community College, graduating in 2013. He served on the Summa Health Care and Cedar Point police departments concurrently for two years before joining SLPD.

Kory said his immediate goals were to focus on community programs. He will institute a Coffee with the Chief program while maintaining the city’s popular Safety Town program and reinstituting Shop with a Cop, which pairs local kids and officers at the holidays to purchase gifts for themselves and their families; and No Shave November, a cancer awareness effort.

He is also focused on providing more training for officers in the department and exploring ways to improve communication with youth.

Mayor Dennis Bring said he is looking forward to building a partnership with Kory. “I want to see some of his ideas implemented including appropriate manpower, training and equipment so he is successful as chief and our community benefits.

“He’s very intelligent and I believe he is going to be fun to work with because he’s willing to listen to others’ ideas. That’s a breath of fresh air.

Bring continued, “Andrew is community-oriented. We want the public to see our police as a very good department. We want the neighboring police agencies to know there is open commmunication and more cooperation with them since mutual aid is so important and I think our school district will benefit from having this new administration in place as well.”

Kory is married and has two young children.

At the same meeting, Council approved the hiring of Joshua McCoy as full-time police officer and Robert Perkins as part-time officer.

McCoy is a ten year veteran of Cleveland Police Department while Perkins currently works part-time for Sheffield Village Police Department and is retired from the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office. Kory said, “We’re pleased to have them joining us and expect great things from both of them.”

The city is replacing or creating sidewalks along a number of city streets. Superintendent Pat Hastings said the work was being done in front of some 50 houses. A city ordinance requires that home sellers place funds in escrow to pay for sidewalks that fail inspection before title transfers following sale of a home. In addition, sidewalks have been added where a new home is built. Hastings said the work will be concluded by later this fall.

The city is showing off its newly refurbished Engine 61. It recently underwent a complete vinyl wrap.

The work was done by Gorilla Graphics of Brunswick whose custom graphic work can be seen on racing cars, food trucks, buses, service and sales vans of many companies as well as emergency vehicles.

Cost for the wrap was $8,400. This compares to $60,000 to paint it. Sheffield Lake had Engine 63 vinyl wrapped three years ago. Firefighters said the vinyl wrap has worn well, with no peeling. In addition, if a part of the truck is dinged, a small vinyl replacement piece is made and applied over the ding, again at significant savings.

Mayor Dennis Bring said the city saved $100,000 using the vinyl wrap process on the two fire trucks. “This will add years to the useful life of both fire engines,” he said. A new fire pumper truck costs over $500,000, he added.

Sheffield Lake appears to be the only local fire department that utilizes this proces to extend the life of equipment.

A female American Bald Eagle fighting off a hawk over a fish was electrocuted Monday morning near East Ave. The incident was reported by the city to both ODNR and the Nature Center in Bay Village.

Nature Center staff are licensed wildlife rehabbers and are permitted to handle the birds. They picked it up and took it to their center. From there, it will be prepared and transported to a Native American center in Colorado.

While Bald Eagles are no longer considered endangered, they are still protected by several federal laws including The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. These protections strictly forbid average citizens from touching the birds, including keeping a feather that they may find on the ground.

The city has sold Shoreway Shopping Center for nearly $1.8 million to a group of New Your investors.

As part of the deal, the city retains ownership of three properties which formerly were the post office, bowling alley and drive-thru beverage store. Mayor Dennis Bring said this is a primary reason the sale was lower than the listing price.

The new owners told city officials they will keep the center open, and make repairs to the building and parking lot. Bring said keeping the center open was a key element of negotiations as he believed it was important that Apples and Rite Aid continue to operate, in addition to other current tenants.

He said over the past six or seven years, the city had been approached by several prospective buyers but negotiations fizzled because some wanted to tear the center down, while others wanted the deal to include the city’s Boat Launch and Domonkas Library properties, none of which Bring believed was in the best interest of residents or the city.

Lorain County Public Health will spray for mosquitoes Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 23-24, between the hours of 9-11:30 p.m.

Scott Pozna, environmental health manager, explained that one truck will spray on the city’s west-side while another will spray on the east-side, with the two trucks working their way to the middle of the city. He said he was not sure they would finish spraying on Monday evening, so they will return to finish on Tuesday evening.

Anyone who wishes to have their property placed on a “no spray” list can call Lorain County Public health on Monday between 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at (440) 322-6367. The state has already provided him a list of area properties with certified beekeeping operations or organic farm fields and they will not be sprayed, he said.

The product the county uses is targeted to kill mosquitoes and will not harm other insects including fireflies, butterflies and bees. Pozna said there is no evidence of adverse effects on people or pets, although people should feel free to take precautions like closing windows or staying inside while spraying occurs if they wish.

Repeated vandalism at the Boat Launch bathroom has forced its permanent closure. Mayor Dennis Bring said the city is simply not able to continue paying for plumbing and other repairs.

“When I was elected Mayor, I constantly heard we needed to do something to improve our parks. We did. I don’t understand why people want to destroy the nice things we put in our parks.”

Bring said the vandalism at the bathroom had occurred multiple times this summer. In addition, benches are being removed from Gary Green Park following repeated acts of vandalism, he said.

The Mayor said his biggest disappointment in having to take these actions means that the vast majority of Sheffield Lake residents will lose because of a few “who just don’t care.” He asked if anyone has knowledge about who destroyed city property to report it to Acting Police Chief Shawn Corr at 440 949-7131. Their identities will be kept secret.