Hello, All--
This post, obviously, isn't about the township specifically. For years, when Marie Stehli was fiscal officer, she was the liaison to the Mantua Area Chamber of Commerce and announced the Giving Tree program. I am now the person reporting back and forth between the Township and Chamber, so here's the scoop:
The Giving Tree program is a Christmas gift program for kids whose families have pretty thin Christmases. The chamber collects donations of cash, buys gift cards, and then gives them to kids and families. (More about that in a minute.)
If you want to make a cash donation, here's how:
Mail a check made out to the Mantua Area Chamber of Commerce with "Giving Tree" on the memo line.
Address: MACOC, P.O. Box 111, Mantua, OH 44255. The deadline for checks to hit the Chamber mailbox is Monday, December 10. That's when Christine Pitsinger, chamber president, will pick things up. My apologies for the short notice.
You could also donate toys by Monday, December 10, by dropping them off at the Middlefield Bank.
Finally, gifts and toys will be distributed on Tuesday, December 18, from 9-4 at Hilltop Christian Church in Mantua. If you would like to help out, volunteers usually do one- to two-hour stints. I'm not sure how you would arrange that in advance except to leave a message and your phone number with Christine Pitsinger at 330-414-6486.
Apparently there is a need for kind things like this for those who we may not realize are less fortunate than we are, and my understanding is that it is very, very appreciated. And charity begins at home.
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Friday, September 21, 2018
Fiscal Officer chosen 9-20-18
The Mantua Township Trustees between the two September meetings interviewed applicants for the position of Fiscal Officer for the township.
At the September 20, 2018, meeting, after conferring in Executive Session, they moved to hire Betsy Wolfe to fill the position vacated by Jodie Thompson. Betsy has been deemed OK for that position by Judge Laurie Pittman. Betsy has also been deemed bondable and electable, both requirements for the appointment.
In light of the extremely uncertain condition of the township's financial records, the trustees appointed, as the law permits, Susan Skrovan to be Betsy's assistant until things are resolved. They agreed that it was not possible to set a firm time for that, because no one really knows what will have to be done.
Betsy will work for the same salary as Jodie did, and Sue will work for an hourly rate that was worked out based on what other fiscal officers are paid and how many hours a month most of them spend on the job.
At the September 20, 2018, meeting, after conferring in Executive Session, they moved to hire Betsy Wolfe to fill the position vacated by Jodie Thompson. Betsy has been deemed OK for that position by Judge Laurie Pittman. Betsy has also been deemed bondable and electable, both requirements for the appointment.
In light of the extremely uncertain condition of the township's financial records, the trustees appointed, as the law permits, Susan Skrovan to be Betsy's assistant until things are resolved. They agreed that it was not possible to set a firm time for that, because no one really knows what will have to be done.
Betsy will work for the same salary as Jodie did, and Sue will work for an hourly rate that was worked out based on what other fiscal officers are paid and how many hours a month most of them spend on the job.
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
A Final Word or Two (or More)
The final post for the August 16, 2018 Mantua Township Trustees meeting is also the final regular post for Virtual Torch.
When I retired in 2000 and came back home to Mantua Township, my intention was to build a house, have a dog and flower gardens, and make quilts that I designed myself. My brother Dave began telling me about things that were being done to the trustees in meetings by a woman who had also enlisted the "help"--for herself, not the trustees--of a non-resident whom she described as having "a wealth of information." It looked to me as if he had a wealth of damage he wanted to do the trustees and Marie Stehli.
I began going to meetings and was outraged at the cynical way the trustees and fiscal officer were being abused. Dave and I had at both of the abusers, and finally managed to turn the tables on the man. The trustees also adopted language permitting only residents to speak during public comment. The man stopped coming to meetings.
At the time, a really nasty website--on the order of "Sound Off!" in the Record Courier only nastier--had been developed, with a title that led unsuspecting people to think it was the township's official website.
The whole thing made me sick to my stomach for two reasons: First, what was being promulgated was ugly, ugly, ugly--and frequently to usually completely untrue. Second, it needed to be countered, but I had neither the money nor the skill to create an opposition website. Then a friend told me about blogs and coached me in setting up Virtual Torch.
The first post was dated February 20, 2011. I vowed to pull no punches, but not to sink to the petty middle school bullying that was going on in meetings and on the "rogue website." That was an apt name for a screed completely without adult supervision and bankrupt of anything remotely resembling truth or ethics.
In the time since the blog began, I have been lied about; stalked or at least followed, with my whereabouts posted location by location; threatened with legal action (an empty threat); and sued for "defamation of character"--a suit that came to nothing because there was nothing in it.
During the same time, Dave was baited and threatened and also lied about in completely obscene terms. A friend was the target of an obscene cartoon, and Vic was portrayed in another in a completely false way.
Those are just the big things. Every meeting was another assault on decency and the truth by what I charitably called "the peanut gallery." Privately, I considered them jackals.
It's easy for people who weren't there to adopt the fiction of taking the moral high ground and not "stooping" or "getting involved."
But this is what Colin Powell, retired general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had to say:
"No good idea succeeds simply because it is a good idea. Good ideas must have champions--people willing to believe in them, push for them, fight for them, gain adherents and other champions, and press until they succeed. I follow up with a related truth: Bad ideas don't die simply because they are intrinsically bad. You need people who will stand up and fight them, put themselves at risk, point out the weaknesses, and drive stakes through their hearts." (Colin Powell, It Worked for Me)
During the time of the blog, I have most obviously been fighting against a bunch of bad ideas, which never go away but have for the time being diminished.
At the same time, members of The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., of which I was an officer in one position or another since we renewed its charter, have worked their hearts out, with the community's support, for the sake of a good idea. We seem to have succeeded: not only is the Mantua Center School building still standing, but it also now has an elevator (which will eventually be operational) and a gleaming refurbished bell tower. And at the last meeting the trustees signed a two-year agreement to develop a community center at the school building.
Accomplishing that took both prongs: fighting against and working for.
Hang in there--this is almost done.
In 2016, a person described by a now disbarred (or at least no longer licensed) lawyer as a man "of impeccable character" sued me for defamation of that character. In the blog post dated September 6, 2016, titled "Careful What You Ask For," I said that before the lawsuit I had intended to close the blog at the end of 2016. Now, however, I intended to maintain it as long as I flaming well pleased.
I am now flaming well pleased.
With the meetings now being videotaped, you have living color, moving pictures, and tone of voice--much more revealing than mere words in a blog post. It's on the township website, mantuatownshipohio.gov.
There may be an occasional FYI type of post, but nothing regular and nothing lengthy. A "New Post" message will still go out. Until then, thank you for reading, and thank you more than you can know for the occasional e-mail saying, in one way or another, "Thank you." The gratitude is mine to all of you.
When I retired in 2000 and came back home to Mantua Township, my intention was to build a house, have a dog and flower gardens, and make quilts that I designed myself. My brother Dave began telling me about things that were being done to the trustees in meetings by a woman who had also enlisted the "help"--for herself, not the trustees--of a non-resident whom she described as having "a wealth of information." It looked to me as if he had a wealth of damage he wanted to do the trustees and Marie Stehli.
I began going to meetings and was outraged at the cynical way the trustees and fiscal officer were being abused. Dave and I had at both of the abusers, and finally managed to turn the tables on the man. The trustees also adopted language permitting only residents to speak during public comment. The man stopped coming to meetings.
At the time, a really nasty website--on the order of "Sound Off!" in the Record Courier only nastier--had been developed, with a title that led unsuspecting people to think it was the township's official website.
The whole thing made me sick to my stomach for two reasons: First, what was being promulgated was ugly, ugly, ugly--and frequently to usually completely untrue. Second, it needed to be countered, but I had neither the money nor the skill to create an opposition website. Then a friend told me about blogs and coached me in setting up Virtual Torch.
The first post was dated February 20, 2011. I vowed to pull no punches, but not to sink to the petty middle school bullying that was going on in meetings and on the "rogue website." That was an apt name for a screed completely without adult supervision and bankrupt of anything remotely resembling truth or ethics.
In the time since the blog began, I have been lied about; stalked or at least followed, with my whereabouts posted location by location; threatened with legal action (an empty threat); and sued for "defamation of character"--a suit that came to nothing because there was nothing in it.
During the same time, Dave was baited and threatened and also lied about in completely obscene terms. A friend was the target of an obscene cartoon, and Vic was portrayed in another in a completely false way.
Those are just the big things. Every meeting was another assault on decency and the truth by what I charitably called "the peanut gallery." Privately, I considered them jackals.
It's easy for people who weren't there to adopt the fiction of taking the moral high ground and not "stooping" or "getting involved."
But this is what Colin Powell, retired general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had to say:
"No good idea succeeds simply because it is a good idea. Good ideas must have champions--people willing to believe in them, push for them, fight for them, gain adherents and other champions, and press until they succeed. I follow up with a related truth: Bad ideas don't die simply because they are intrinsically bad. You need people who will stand up and fight them, put themselves at risk, point out the weaknesses, and drive stakes through their hearts." (Colin Powell, It Worked for Me)
During the time of the blog, I have most obviously been fighting against a bunch of bad ideas, which never go away but have for the time being diminished.
At the same time, members of The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., of which I was an officer in one position or another since we renewed its charter, have worked their hearts out, with the community's support, for the sake of a good idea. We seem to have succeeded: not only is the Mantua Center School building still standing, but it also now has an elevator (which will eventually be operational) and a gleaming refurbished bell tower. And at the last meeting the trustees signed a two-year agreement to develop a community center at the school building.
Accomplishing that took both prongs: fighting against and working for.
Hang in there--this is almost done.
In 2016, a person described by a now disbarred (or at least no longer licensed) lawyer as a man "of impeccable character" sued me for defamation of that character. In the blog post dated September 6, 2016, titled "Careful What You Ask For," I said that before the lawsuit I had intended to close the blog at the end of 2016. Now, however, I intended to maintain it as long as I flaming well pleased.
I am now flaming well pleased.
With the meetings now being videotaped, you have living color, moving pictures, and tone of voice--much more revealing than mere words in a blog post. It's on the township website, mantuatownshipohio.gov.
There may be an occasional FYI type of post, but nothing regular and nothing lengthy. A "New Post" message will still go out. Until then, thank you for reading, and thank you more than you can know for the occasional e-mail saying, in one way or another, "Thank you." The gratitude is mine to all of you.
Saturday, September 1, 2018
The Rest of 8-16; Frost Road, Public Comment, Other
Blogger Foreword: This is going to be as fast a pass as I can make through the rest of the August 16, 2018, trustees meeting. It is now September 1, and, like all deferred tasks, this blog post has become a heavy prospect.
There were various ordinary kinds of things for the business of the township. A representative of a playground and park equipment company came and gave the trustees packets of information about the company, which the township has dealt with in the past.
A company was agreed upon to remove trees in [I believe] West Lawn Cemetery.
Club and Committee Reports
LCA: Nothing to report.
Mantua Restoration Society: "MaRSI" will be at Derthick's Corn Maze again with home made food, and Dave and Susan Pollard are again planning to have coffee, donuts, and a light potluck lunch on election day for anyone who has already voted and just wants to hang out for a while.
Cemetery Committee: Jan Oros wanted the trustees to know that the second meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 21, at the township hall at 7 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to pick a representative from each of the four organizations and work on a mission statement.
[Note: Other than Amy Janca, all of the people at that meeting were members of The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc. A mission statement was discussed and accepted, and the date of the next meeting was set for a walk-through of Pioneer Cemetery, I believe. The date is, I believe, the third Tuesday in September, but I am not rock solid on that.]
Nothing from the Beautification Committee.
There was more discussion about which bank the township will use in order to get the best interest rate on its deposit.
There is still some money available from a NOPEC grant (which has nothing to do with the summer celebration sponsored by NOPEC). These grants are for energy-saving measures and some years ago paid for new windows in the township hall, among other things.
Vic made a motion, properly seconded and passed, to apply for that grant.
Community Center Task Force: The trustees had a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the task force to operate a community center in the Mantua Center School building. Jason made the motion to accept the MOU, Vic seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
[Blogger note: I attended most if not all of the task force meetings until mid-summer, when I notified Jay Schabel that I could no longer serve as the communications and marketing person. What I want readers and residents to understand is that what you want in a community center and what the task force has discussed for a long time may not be the same thing, and if you want a place for community focused things that serve "just folks," you need to make your desires known and then follow up on them. One of the criticisms hurled at the school from Day One is that it was a financial burden on the township, and the task force has focused on ways for the building to do more to pay for itself.]
There was some discussion about how the County allocates funds from the State. The present model favors Kent because it has the greatest population. [Kent, as a city, can also pass an income tax, which townships cannot do.]
[Note: There was something in the Record Courier about this towards the end of the week; I noticed the headline but have not yet read the article. A number of years ago I believe we were getting $70,000 annually from the State small government fund. (Don't quote me on the amount.) That money has been reduced year by year, and it has affected the township's ability to do things.]
Fire Recall system for the elevator: No word at this point. John Festa fretted about the delay, and Vic said he would talk with Chris Meduri.
Paving: Your blogger is going to deal only with Frost Road under this topic.
The bid books were opened for the chip and seal project.
[I did not take a lot of notes on this. The discussion about Frost Road was about the step by step process. It will not produce a surface like a state highway or even the paved township roads, if I understand it correctly; however, it will be a start and will allay the dust that has plagued the residents for years.]
Jason commented that it was not going to be possible to widen the road a whole lot but hoped that its narrowness would tend to discourage speeding. [More on this in public comment; suffice it to say that the roughness of the road, the only unpaved mile in the township, does not discourage speeding now, according to residents I have talked to.]
Public Comment:
Terry Hronek: Since Jodie is leaving, does [anyone] know anything about speeding up the audit? Who is doing it?
Answer: The state.
Terry, continuing: Marie Stehli would be good to train the new person.
Vic: The problem is that this was her township and she may not be allowed to do that.
[Vic and Jason have both talked with Marie about this issue.]
Sue Skrovan: No comment.
Dave Pollard: To Jason: You were talking about work on Old Frost. Will there be any further widening before the work begins?
Jason: Not right now. It is not going to be the widest road in spots. We are talking about ditching, tree removal, culverts. We will compact the base. No more widening.
Dave: I don't think I have ever met another vehicle to see how it may have changed. It is hard to tell.
I would like, coming off S.R. 82 heading south, about where it is flat at the top, the road has been cut down. I would like to drag my topsoil off into the field because that knoll is a little thin. I would like to do that at some point. This would just be the topsoil.
Carole Pollard: We could use a little levity at this point. Jason, your comment about the narrowness of the road discouraging speeders reminded me of a cartoon that one of my office mates posted when she was working to quit smoking. Moses had come down from the mountain with an eleventh tablet. What it said was "Thank you for not smoking." He was looking up at the heavens and saying, "God, you just don't understand these people." [This is what the cartoon actually said. I had slightly mis-remembered it during the meeting and said "Please do not smoke." The rest of the comment was as is.]
After that, Vic said one more thing that I noted:
The bridge on Center Road: The beams are here and will be in after September 27. They are galvanized and they will be water proofed and then sealed.
[I think that's correct; time since the meeting has dimmed my memory of the context, which helps in getting the comments right.]
Vic, continuing: Then it will be asphalted. It looks right now like the end of September.
[Blogger: My notes end here.]
There were various ordinary kinds of things for the business of the township. A representative of a playground and park equipment company came and gave the trustees packets of information about the company, which the township has dealt with in the past.
A company was agreed upon to remove trees in [I believe] West Lawn Cemetery.
Club and Committee Reports
LCA: Nothing to report.
Mantua Restoration Society: "MaRSI" will be at Derthick's Corn Maze again with home made food, and Dave and Susan Pollard are again planning to have coffee, donuts, and a light potluck lunch on election day for anyone who has already voted and just wants to hang out for a while.
Cemetery Committee: Jan Oros wanted the trustees to know that the second meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 21, at the township hall at 7 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to pick a representative from each of the four organizations and work on a mission statement.
[Note: Other than Amy Janca, all of the people at that meeting were members of The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc. A mission statement was discussed and accepted, and the date of the next meeting was set for a walk-through of Pioneer Cemetery, I believe. The date is, I believe, the third Tuesday in September, but I am not rock solid on that.]
Nothing from the Beautification Committee.
There was more discussion about which bank the township will use in order to get the best interest rate on its deposit.
There is still some money available from a NOPEC grant (which has nothing to do with the summer celebration sponsored by NOPEC). These grants are for energy-saving measures and some years ago paid for new windows in the township hall, among other things.
Vic made a motion, properly seconded and passed, to apply for that grant.
Community Center Task Force: The trustees had a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the task force to operate a community center in the Mantua Center School building. Jason made the motion to accept the MOU, Vic seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
[Blogger note: I attended most if not all of the task force meetings until mid-summer, when I notified Jay Schabel that I could no longer serve as the communications and marketing person. What I want readers and residents to understand is that what you want in a community center and what the task force has discussed for a long time may not be the same thing, and if you want a place for community focused things that serve "just folks," you need to make your desires known and then follow up on them. One of the criticisms hurled at the school from Day One is that it was a financial burden on the township, and the task force has focused on ways for the building to do more to pay for itself.]
There was some discussion about how the County allocates funds from the State. The present model favors Kent because it has the greatest population. [Kent, as a city, can also pass an income tax, which townships cannot do.]
[Note: There was something in the Record Courier about this towards the end of the week; I noticed the headline but have not yet read the article. A number of years ago I believe we were getting $70,000 annually from the State small government fund. (Don't quote me on the amount.) That money has been reduced year by year, and it has affected the township's ability to do things.]
Fire Recall system for the elevator: No word at this point. John Festa fretted about the delay, and Vic said he would talk with Chris Meduri.
Paving: Your blogger is going to deal only with Frost Road under this topic.
The bid books were opened for the chip and seal project.
[I did not take a lot of notes on this. The discussion about Frost Road was about the step by step process. It will not produce a surface like a state highway or even the paved township roads, if I understand it correctly; however, it will be a start and will allay the dust that has plagued the residents for years.]
Jason commented that it was not going to be possible to widen the road a whole lot but hoped that its narrowness would tend to discourage speeding. [More on this in public comment; suffice it to say that the roughness of the road, the only unpaved mile in the township, does not discourage speeding now, according to residents I have talked to.]
Public Comment:
Terry Hronek: Since Jodie is leaving, does [anyone] know anything about speeding up the audit? Who is doing it?
Answer: The state.
Terry, continuing: Marie Stehli would be good to train the new person.
Vic: The problem is that this was her township and she may not be allowed to do that.
[Vic and Jason have both talked with Marie about this issue.]
Sue Skrovan: No comment.
Dave Pollard: To Jason: You were talking about work on Old Frost. Will there be any further widening before the work begins?
Jason: Not right now. It is not going to be the widest road in spots. We are talking about ditching, tree removal, culverts. We will compact the base. No more widening.
Dave: I don't think I have ever met another vehicle to see how it may have changed. It is hard to tell.
I would like, coming off S.R. 82 heading south, about where it is flat at the top, the road has been cut down. I would like to drag my topsoil off into the field because that knoll is a little thin. I would like to do that at some point. This would just be the topsoil.
Carole Pollard: We could use a little levity at this point. Jason, your comment about the narrowness of the road discouraging speeders reminded me of a cartoon that one of my office mates posted when she was working to quit smoking. Moses had come down from the mountain with an eleventh tablet. What it said was "Thank you for not smoking." He was looking up at the heavens and saying, "God, you just don't understand these people." [This is what the cartoon actually said. I had slightly mis-remembered it during the meeting and said "Please do not smoke." The rest of the comment was as is.]
After that, Vic said one more thing that I noted:
The bridge on Center Road: The beams are here and will be in after September 27. They are galvanized and they will be water proofed and then sealed.
[I think that's correct; time since the meeting has dimmed my memory of the context, which helps in getting the comments right.]
Vic, continuing: Then it will be asphalted. It looks right now like the end of September.
[Blogger: My notes end here.]
Saturday, August 18, 2018
Fiscal Officer Resigns
[Blogger Foreword: This post will deal almost exclusively with the resignation of the fiscal officer. I will say here, however, since it is coming up, that there will be a meeting regarding the cemetery project on Tuesday, August 21, from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Township Hall. It is open to the public. The three township groups that have come together for this are the historical society, the restoration society, and the beautification committee. Attendance at the meeting and, for that matter, being part of this project is not limited to members of those three groups. In fact, fresh viewpoints could be a plus.]
Attendance at this meeting was small: Sue Skrovan, Carole Pollard, Dave Pollard, Terry Hronek, Jim Aldrich, Frank Horack, and Larry Leitzow. Larry left before the end of the meeting.
John Festa: Jodie has submitted her resignation to the board of trustees. She will be resigning on September 20 at11:5 p.m. The trustees will now according to the Ohio Revised code have to seek a deputy fiscal officer. Her original letter did not say that.
[Note: It became obvious that Jodie had written two resignation letters, as will become clear with Vic's next remark. There may have been some comment before what follows, but it does not change or diminish anything. It became clear, as you will see, that there was disagreement about what to do with the fact of two letters.]
Vic: I make a motion to accept her resignation as of August 31, the original date.
[There was no second to the motion.]
Jason: She has her own office and reports to the trustees. We did not appoint her. I don't know if it is up to us to accept this. She has her own office.
John Festa: She has to give notice to the Board of Elections.
Vic: No. That is our duty. I checked with Chris Meduri--within 7 days the reporting/?[can't read my note] must notify the Board of Elections that Jodie Thompson has left office and within 10 days we have to agree to appoint [someone].
John Festa objected. He asked if Vic had that in writing [as if Vic were making up a conversation with the township's own counsel]. Under the section for the clerk in the ORC, it says that the fiscal officer must inform the Board of Elections within 10 days of her departure.
Vic: Don't worry about it. Chris called saying that he got it from Faith [Faith is the head of the Board of Elections.] There was a time frame. If it was an odd year, 40 days before the election. That is why it all has [to] come from the defining board.
John Festa: I read it under townships.
[Blogger: The Board of Elections is an information office that manages all information regarding elections. It does not do any of the things that John Festa seemed to want it to do, like take over responsibility for dealing with the problem that had landed on the trustees' desks. This is from the same playbook as the insistence that we had not signed anything saying we had any financial responsibility for the elevator--it was all on the Commissioners.]
Vic: I got it from Chris Meduri.
Jason: Here is the dilemma I have. We still have to operate the township--payroll and everything that goes on--minutes, a whole slew of things. [Jason took the minutes at this meeting.] If she resigns August 31, and we don't meet again until September 6 . . . .
Vic: That is why Chris recommended that we should appoint an assistant. The deputy fits for leave of absence or medical.
[Blogger: I do not have his comments, but John Festa apparently continued to object based on his reading of the ORC.]
Vic: OK, John. There is no sense in talking about it. You have delayed everything since you have been if office. [Blogger's emphasis. This is the most overt statement I have ever heard Vic make to another trustee.]
John Festa: Oh my God.
Vic: I don't know what the issue is. You asked me to check with Chris Meduri and I did, and now you come back reading the ORC.
She resigned in one e-mail and then sent another saying she would stick around.
Jason: We all know that no matter which date it is, it is a future date. So why don't we do what Vic said--put an ad in the paper.
John Festa: We are looking for a deputy.
Vic: No, a replacement. Either [an] assistant, or Jodie can come to us and ask for an assistant.
John Festa: We would have to appoint somebody to run the books.
Vic: That is why Chris Meduri asked for an assistant to work with her and evaluate the situation. Then once Jodie leaves, we can put a replacement ad in the paper.
Jason: I will make up some kind of legal ad and contact Chris so we can get the semantics right so we don't get ourselves into a pickle. If we put the ad in starting next week, it is going to take some time for the board to appoint someone to fill her unexpired term. And that is regardless of what the title is. We are going to be into September when this happens.
Vic: We have 30 days--we need to get an ad started with the qualifications we need.
To Jason: Are you going to put an ad in for assistant or what?
Jason: What I imagine is that whoever reads that ad is going to want to be full time.
Vic: As far as for the assistant you don't have to advertise. Jodie can request someone.
Jason: I think the ad should be for the replacement. Do you agree, John?
John Festa: I will agree that we have to find someone. I don't need any more confrontations.
Vic: We need someone with two years of experience with fund accounting and UAN [which is an acronym for the information system used by the State]. They also have to be a township resident.
John Festa: That is going to be a tough one. [He then said he thought the UAN was unfamiliar or new.]
Vic: It's the same one ever since Marie Stehli has been in. One of the reasons Chris Meduri gave for having a deputy is that the deputy would have to work for the same wages as Jodie Thompson. If we hire an assistant, we can control the wages.
John Festa: How does she become fiscal officer if we hire her? To me in my head, Deputy Fiscal Officer is in place of the fiscal officer and takes over for the unexpired term. I don't know of too many townships where the fiscal officer walks out in the middle of a term.
[At that, both Vic Grimm and Sue Skrovan said, "Oh, yes, they do."]
Jason: Marie Stehli is willing to help. She can be a contractor if we can work that out. She could probably help with the transition. But she can not become our fiscal officer because of PERS, nor would she want that position. But I think she would be a good contractor.
Vic: We need someone in there with Jodie. This is an overwhelming job, so we have to find out where we are. We need someone who can tell us that, like Jason said. If Marie Stehli can help, that would be great. But to replace her [Jodie] we need someone with two years of experience, and they need to be able to work on UAN. We need not find someone with experience on UAN; if they have fund accounting they should be able to handle UAN. [He gave examples.]
Continuing: We also need to make it clear that it is a part time position and that there are two evening meetings per month. We don't know how much behind things are. That is why we need someone to assist her now so we will know that.
[Blogger: Somewhere in all of this, perhaps earlier when the debate was about which resignation date to accept, John Festa said that Jodie was staying to help out as an argument for accepting the September date. The above comment is the other side of that coin.]
[Also, I think John Festa differed with the requirement of two meetings a month, saying that the fiscal officer actually didn't need to do that. That was countered, I believe. Marie never missed a meeting, that I remember.]
John Festa: The only person who can do that is Marie Stehli.
Vic: That is why Chris suggested an assistant--so they can work and make sure everything is there and know what is there. We can see what Marie has to say.
John Festa: I agree that we need to do something now.
Jason read the draft of the ad. There was more discussion.
Vic: It is just that we have a short time.
Jason: If Marie can help us as a contractor, that may be how to deal with the PERS situation. [He has talked with the Board of Elections.]
Sue Skrovan: I have a question on the ad. Is that for the appointment--are you going to put in that it is for the unexpired term?
[Blogger: My notes do not show a response to that, but I think Jason took it as a helpful suggestion to be incorporated.]
[My notes on the fiscal officer debate end here.]
[As an addition to all of this, Jodie did send me something about late payments. I had requested everything, since it sounded to me as if a number of businesses and people had been paid late--a lot, in fact. What I got were printouts of the statements from PERS for four billing periods. All of them indicated late payments, and penalties. IF I read them right, those four billing periods incurred penalties totaling $133.00 and some change. In light of the discussion and situation set forth in this blog post, there is no reason to dig any further. At some point there will be a report on the audit, and that should be definitive.
[An additional piece of information is in reference to my comment at the previous meeting that the Shalersville audit was complete in three days. Jodie said that Jill Corbett had not had a full audit. I asked about that and was told that since both Jill and Jodie were in their first term, a state audit was required of both. There was no difference.]
Attendance at this meeting was small: Sue Skrovan, Carole Pollard, Dave Pollard, Terry Hronek, Jim Aldrich, Frank Horack, and Larry Leitzow. Larry left before the end of the meeting.
John Festa: Jodie has submitted her resignation to the board of trustees. She will be resigning on September 20 at11:5 p.m. The trustees will now according to the Ohio Revised code have to seek a deputy fiscal officer. Her original letter did not say that.
[Note: It became obvious that Jodie had written two resignation letters, as will become clear with Vic's next remark. There may have been some comment before what follows, but it does not change or diminish anything. It became clear, as you will see, that there was disagreement about what to do with the fact of two letters.]
Vic: I make a motion to accept her resignation as of August 31, the original date.
[There was no second to the motion.]
Jason: She has her own office and reports to the trustees. We did not appoint her. I don't know if it is up to us to accept this. She has her own office.
John Festa: She has to give notice to the Board of Elections.
Vic: No. That is our duty. I checked with Chris Meduri--within 7 days the reporting/?[can't read my note] must notify the Board of Elections that Jodie Thompson has left office and within 10 days we have to agree to appoint [someone].
John Festa objected. He asked if Vic had that in writing [as if Vic were making up a conversation with the township's own counsel]. Under the section for the clerk in the ORC, it says that the fiscal officer must inform the Board of Elections within 10 days of her departure.
Vic: Don't worry about it. Chris called saying that he got it from Faith [Faith is the head of the Board of Elections.] There was a time frame. If it was an odd year, 40 days before the election. That is why it all has [to] come from the defining board.
John Festa: I read it under townships.
[Blogger: The Board of Elections is an information office that manages all information regarding elections. It does not do any of the things that John Festa seemed to want it to do, like take over responsibility for dealing with the problem that had landed on the trustees' desks. This is from the same playbook as the insistence that we had not signed anything saying we had any financial responsibility for the elevator--it was all on the Commissioners.]
Vic: I got it from Chris Meduri.
Jason: Here is the dilemma I have. We still have to operate the township--payroll and everything that goes on--minutes, a whole slew of things. [Jason took the minutes at this meeting.] If she resigns August 31, and we don't meet again until September 6 . . . .
Vic: That is why Chris recommended that we should appoint an assistant. The deputy fits for leave of absence or medical.
[Blogger: I do not have his comments, but John Festa apparently continued to object based on his reading of the ORC.]
Vic: OK, John. There is no sense in talking about it. You have delayed everything since you have been if office. [Blogger's emphasis. This is the most overt statement I have ever heard Vic make to another trustee.]
John Festa: Oh my God.
Vic: I don't know what the issue is. You asked me to check with Chris Meduri and I did, and now you come back reading the ORC.
She resigned in one e-mail and then sent another saying she would stick around.
Jason: We all know that no matter which date it is, it is a future date. So why don't we do what Vic said--put an ad in the paper.
John Festa: We are looking for a deputy.
Vic: No, a replacement. Either [an] assistant, or Jodie can come to us and ask for an assistant.
John Festa: We would have to appoint somebody to run the books.
Vic: That is why Chris Meduri asked for an assistant to work with her and evaluate the situation. Then once Jodie leaves, we can put a replacement ad in the paper.
Jason: I will make up some kind of legal ad and contact Chris so we can get the semantics right so we don't get ourselves into a pickle. If we put the ad in starting next week, it is going to take some time for the board to appoint someone to fill her unexpired term. And that is regardless of what the title is. We are going to be into September when this happens.
Vic: We have 30 days--we need to get an ad started with the qualifications we need.
To Jason: Are you going to put an ad in for assistant or what?
Jason: What I imagine is that whoever reads that ad is going to want to be full time.
Vic: As far as for the assistant you don't have to advertise. Jodie can request someone.
Jason: I think the ad should be for the replacement. Do you agree, John?
John Festa: I will agree that we have to find someone. I don't need any more confrontations.
Vic: We need someone with two years of experience with fund accounting and UAN [which is an acronym for the information system used by the State]. They also have to be a township resident.
John Festa: That is going to be a tough one. [He then said he thought the UAN was unfamiliar or new.]
Vic: It's the same one ever since Marie Stehli has been in. One of the reasons Chris Meduri gave for having a deputy is that the deputy would have to work for the same wages as Jodie Thompson. If we hire an assistant, we can control the wages.
John Festa: How does she become fiscal officer if we hire her? To me in my head, Deputy Fiscal Officer is in place of the fiscal officer and takes over for the unexpired term. I don't know of too many townships where the fiscal officer walks out in the middle of a term.
[At that, both Vic Grimm and Sue Skrovan said, "Oh, yes, they do."]
Jason: Marie Stehli is willing to help. She can be a contractor if we can work that out. She could probably help with the transition. But she can not become our fiscal officer because of PERS, nor would she want that position. But I think she would be a good contractor.
Vic: We need someone in there with Jodie. This is an overwhelming job, so we have to find out where we are. We need someone who can tell us that, like Jason said. If Marie Stehli can help, that would be great. But to replace her [Jodie] we need someone with two years of experience, and they need to be able to work on UAN. We need not find someone with experience on UAN; if they have fund accounting they should be able to handle UAN. [He gave examples.]
Continuing: We also need to make it clear that it is a part time position and that there are two evening meetings per month. We don't know how much behind things are. That is why we need someone to assist her now so we will know that.
[Blogger: Somewhere in all of this, perhaps earlier when the debate was about which resignation date to accept, John Festa said that Jodie was staying to help out as an argument for accepting the September date. The above comment is the other side of that coin.]
[Also, I think John Festa differed with the requirement of two meetings a month, saying that the fiscal officer actually didn't need to do that. That was countered, I believe. Marie never missed a meeting, that I remember.]
John Festa: The only person who can do that is Marie Stehli.
Vic: That is why Chris suggested an assistant--so they can work and make sure everything is there and know what is there. We can see what Marie has to say.
John Festa: I agree that we need to do something now.
Jason read the draft of the ad. There was more discussion.
Vic: It is just that we have a short time.
Jason: If Marie can help us as a contractor, that may be how to deal with the PERS situation. [He has talked with the Board of Elections.]
Sue Skrovan: I have a question on the ad. Is that for the appointment--are you going to put in that it is for the unexpired term?
[Blogger: My notes do not show a response to that, but I think Jason took it as a helpful suggestion to be incorporated.]
[My notes on the fiscal officer debate end here.]
[As an addition to all of this, Jodie did send me something about late payments. I had requested everything, since it sounded to me as if a number of businesses and people had been paid late--a lot, in fact. What I got were printouts of the statements from PERS for four billing periods. All of them indicated late payments, and penalties. IF I read them right, those four billing periods incurred penalties totaling $133.00 and some change. In light of the discussion and situation set forth in this blog post, there is no reason to dig any further. At some point there will be a report on the audit, and that should be definitive.
[An additional piece of information is in reference to my comment at the previous meeting that the Shalersville audit was complete in three days. Jodie said that Jill Corbett had not had a full audit. I asked about that and was told that since both Jill and Jodie were in their first term, a state audit was required of both. There was no difference.]
Sunday, August 12, 2018
Trustees Meeting 8-2-18
Bill Steiner, Portage County Recycling; and Jill Corbett, Shalersville Township Fiscal Officer, and John Kline, Shalersville Township Trustee, were all in attendance to discuss changes to some recycling pickup dates that would combine routes/pickups (only a couple) with the two townships.
The trustees are OK with that, which had been raised in a previous meeting. Bill said that a rate increase was eventually inevitable, but this change would save some money.
There were a couple of contract changes as a result, but those were more detail and paperwork than anything else, from what your faithful blogger could tell.
A major factor in rates and increases is contamination, which needs to be lowered from 20% to 15%. I asked Bill for examples and did not get a whole lot except that plastic bags should NOT be put into the bins because the plastic gets wound around the shafts of the processing equipment and the line has to be stopped until the plastic can be removed. Since time is money, the stoppage costs money. The processors also don't like glass very much, and at that, whether we said anything or not, a couple of us wondered what ELSE they eventually wouldn't like.
If it is on the lid of the bin, it's OK to put into the bin. But no plastic, even with a recycling triangle on the bag. And NO kitchen waste.
Bill has asked for a tour of the recycling facility for elected officials. Portage County recycles more than the city of Akron.
Dave Pollard asked about the billing schedule, and Bill replied that they are trying to get the billing shifted to the real estate bill. The reason is that following up on the late payments as currently done also costs money.
Dave took issue with that as blurring the distinction between government and private sector.
Then Lake Business Products did a presentation about a new copier. The new one will cost less than keeping the current one.
There were a lot of details, clear to the trustees and fiscal officer because they had paperwork in front of them.
Jason made a motion to accept the proposal for the copier at more or less $80 per month for the lease and $34 per month for service.
Jim Aldrich reported that combined income from burials, graves, and foundations came to $4579.00.
He also submitted cost estimates from different tree contractors, since several trees need to be removed. In one case Jim is not concerned about the tree itself, but with where the roots are in relation to a couple of grave sites. That tree is in West Lawn; two others are in the Pioneer Cemetery.
Vic clarified a couple of things with Jason, who did not think we could go with the proposal. One proposal came from Yarnell, but we are in litigation with that company [I believe but am not absolutely positive that involves the mulching operation].
Jason made a motion that the trustees contract with Falls Landscaping to remove the two trees in West Lawn. That was seconded and approved.
Sue Skrovan presented the minutes of the last Zoning Commission meeting to the trustees.
Discussion then moved to the Caterpillar backhoe. Your blogger is not going to go into all of the details. Bottom line, the list price is $143,835. With discounts and trade-in and I am not sure exactly what else, the township will pay $71,758.
Jason pointed out that August 9 is the date of the special meeting to open sealed bids for paving.
At this point, an accidental entanglement with the power cord for the video camera pulled it out of its socket, and it could not be replaced on the spot, so the video ended at this point.
There was discussion about a representative from the township to the Portage County Engineer. Vic has been the rep for somewhere between 5 and 7 years.
Website: John Festa talked with Shane Kerry [I think that is about right]. She is a bit costly, but John Festa stressed to her that we wanted this to be self administered. Vic has also talked to two local people about doing the website.
John Festa has talked with Brian Tayerle about improving the lighting at the shop, and Vioc commented that there is an Ohio Edison program, but last year they were so busy they could not get to us.
There was discussion about paying for the upgrade. There may be something still available from NOPEC.
Jill Corbett commented that Shalersville had gotten a grant from NOPEC and h ad replaced lighting in the school and their township hall with LEDs. The process was easy, but it has to be done exactly right, and efficiency must be tracked for several years. She recommended using all that is awarded.
John Festa reported further on his research into interest rates available on the money the township has in the bank. No decision or motion yet.
Jason reported that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) about the community center at the school had been sent to Jay Schabel. Hopefully we can begin working through this.
Vic: I have been in touch with the fire recall [people]. I have gone over this with Charles Cochran. They can hook up the old system for now. He has not received any [information? I missed this word] yet. I asked him to straighten it out and getit moving. It is in their hands now.
The other thing I had was new business.
To Jodie Thompson: Do you need a resolution for the cemetery?
Jodie explained something about how this was set up. She talked with Marie Stehli about this. This is about funds bequeathed to the cemetery. The auditors want a resolution explaining how the funds were set up. They want a resolution for each one.
Vic: Some of this goes back to the 50's.
John Festa: Can someone explain the process?
Vic: Basically it is for perpetual care. Marie Stehli in the past has money from each of the accounts. Some of the donations specify that only the interest can be used. The amount is almost $2800.
Jason: The question I have is was this from a township funded account?
There was more discussion about this.
Jason then made a motion that the bequest funds 4951 through 4955 (he also read the names) be classified as a private purpose trust and the monies be spent for the beautification of the graves and that the motion/resolution be retroactive to 2010. That was seconded properly and approved.
Jason asked Vic about name tags, and Vic said "Just today."
Then there was some discussion about the bell tower completion and payment.
Vic said there was some paperwork to sign for that.
Public comment was next just about 9 p.m.
Carole Pollard: [I did not get a recording of this meeting (or have buried it on my desk), but I can summarize my remarks.]
First, about the NOPEC/Restoration Society Summer Celebration: It was a success. I went into detail, but Stacy Turner wrote a lovely article in the August first or second Weekly Villager, and today's (August 12) Record Courier has an article with photos. What didn't get into either publication is that Brian and Dottie Summerlin took the left over pizza, cookies, and cake to the Mantua Village Police Department and the Mantua Shalersville Fire Department.
Second, I asked Jodie Thompson again about the records request I had made some time ago for the number of late payments the township had had to make and made it very clear that she needed to convey that information SOON. [It is in my Inbox; upon reviewing it, I will pass on that information in a separate blog post.]
I asked about the audit, and when Jodie said that it was still ongoing, I told her that Jill Corbett's audit in Shalersville had taken three days. Jodie's rejoinder was that the Shalersville audit was a partial audit, but that Mantua Township was getting a full audit.
[I think I was unconvinced at that information. At this rate, the Mueller investigation will be over before the MantuaTownship audit.]
Finally, I told Jodie that Marie Stehli had vouched for her; that probably a number of people had voted for her because of Marie's reputation; and that, therefore, "You owe her."
Terry Hronek: To add to what Carole Pollard asked and Jason had asked: [Terry went through the long trail of confusion about asking for answers about the finances.] We have never gotten answers on some of these questions.
Vic explained some things about that. [It was a payment, I believe, and it may have been to Terry's employer for work on the Civic Center. Do not quote me on that.]
Vic, continuing: It was in the mail at the same time we were writing another check.
Jason: Some of the questions were in relation to the budget. [They were in relation to the fund accounting.. Jason explained how some of the funds work.] We have seen the general fund begin to increase a little over the years.
Terry, to John Festa: You mentioned you had talked to Middlefield Bank. Rick Coe at PCB may also be able to give you some information and maybe offer a little competition.
John Festa talked about if possible staying within the community. There is only so much available in interest rates. As a township, you have to buy something the government backs. On $485,000 last year we made $700.
Dave Pollard: A couple points of information--I think Middlefield is one of the few privately owned banks around.
I didn't have a chance to bring this up to Bill Steiner. My wife lives in Pennsylvania. There, as long as there is a recycling triangle on whatever it is, they take it. But our service has been dropping. Now that the fee is going onto the Real Estate Tax bill, that is not private enterprise.
Another about Baxter Black, who talked about going somewhere in Montana. The whole county is about 1500 people. They were getting a community health care center and were all excited about being able to do for themselves. We have come a long way down since World War II [when people did a lot more for themselves.]
The trustees are OK with that, which had been raised in a previous meeting. Bill said that a rate increase was eventually inevitable, but this change would save some money.
There were a couple of contract changes as a result, but those were more detail and paperwork than anything else, from what your faithful blogger could tell.
A major factor in rates and increases is contamination, which needs to be lowered from 20% to 15%. I asked Bill for examples and did not get a whole lot except that plastic bags should NOT be put into the bins because the plastic gets wound around the shafts of the processing equipment and the line has to be stopped until the plastic can be removed. Since time is money, the stoppage costs money. The processors also don't like glass very much, and at that, whether we said anything or not, a couple of us wondered what ELSE they eventually wouldn't like.
If it is on the lid of the bin, it's OK to put into the bin. But no plastic, even with a recycling triangle on the bag. And NO kitchen waste.
Bill has asked for a tour of the recycling facility for elected officials. Portage County recycles more than the city of Akron.
Dave Pollard asked about the billing schedule, and Bill replied that they are trying to get the billing shifted to the real estate bill. The reason is that following up on the late payments as currently done also costs money.
Dave took issue with that as blurring the distinction between government and private sector.
Then Lake Business Products did a presentation about a new copier. The new one will cost less than keeping the current one.
There were a lot of details, clear to the trustees and fiscal officer because they had paperwork in front of them.
Jason made a motion to accept the proposal for the copier at more or less $80 per month for the lease and $34 per month for service.
Jim Aldrich reported that combined income from burials, graves, and foundations came to $4579.00.
He also submitted cost estimates from different tree contractors, since several trees need to be removed. In one case Jim is not concerned about the tree itself, but with where the roots are in relation to a couple of grave sites. That tree is in West Lawn; two others are in the Pioneer Cemetery.
Vic clarified a couple of things with Jason, who did not think we could go with the proposal. One proposal came from Yarnell, but we are in litigation with that company [I believe but am not absolutely positive that involves the mulching operation].
Jason made a motion that the trustees contract with Falls Landscaping to remove the two trees in West Lawn. That was seconded and approved.
Sue Skrovan presented the minutes of the last Zoning Commission meeting to the trustees.
Discussion then moved to the Caterpillar backhoe. Your blogger is not going to go into all of the details. Bottom line, the list price is $143,835. With discounts and trade-in and I am not sure exactly what else, the township will pay $71,758.
Jason pointed out that August 9 is the date of the special meeting to open sealed bids for paving.
At this point, an accidental entanglement with the power cord for the video camera pulled it out of its socket, and it could not be replaced on the spot, so the video ended at this point.
There was discussion about a representative from the township to the Portage County Engineer. Vic has been the rep for somewhere between 5 and 7 years.
Website: John Festa talked with Shane Kerry [I think that is about right]. She is a bit costly, but John Festa stressed to her that we wanted this to be self administered. Vic has also talked to two local people about doing the website.
John Festa has talked with Brian Tayerle about improving the lighting at the shop, and Vioc commented that there is an Ohio Edison program, but last year they were so busy they could not get to us.
There was discussion about paying for the upgrade. There may be something still available from NOPEC.
Jill Corbett commented that Shalersville had gotten a grant from NOPEC and h ad replaced lighting in the school and their township hall with LEDs. The process was easy, but it has to be done exactly right, and efficiency must be tracked for several years. She recommended using all that is awarded.
John Festa reported further on his research into interest rates available on the money the township has in the bank. No decision or motion yet.
Jason reported that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) about the community center at the school had been sent to Jay Schabel. Hopefully we can begin working through this.
Vic: I have been in touch with the fire recall [people]. I have gone over this with Charles Cochran. They can hook up the old system for now. He has not received any [information? I missed this word] yet. I asked him to straighten it out and getit moving. It is in their hands now.
The other thing I had was new business.
To Jodie Thompson: Do you need a resolution for the cemetery?
Jodie explained something about how this was set up. She talked with Marie Stehli about this. This is about funds bequeathed to the cemetery. The auditors want a resolution explaining how the funds were set up. They want a resolution for each one.
Vic: Some of this goes back to the 50's.
John Festa: Can someone explain the process?
Vic: Basically it is for perpetual care. Marie Stehli in the past has money from each of the accounts. Some of the donations specify that only the interest can be used. The amount is almost $2800.
Jason: The question I have is was this from a township funded account?
There was more discussion about this.
Jason then made a motion that the bequest funds 4951 through 4955 (he also read the names) be classified as a private purpose trust and the monies be spent for the beautification of the graves and that the motion/resolution be retroactive to 2010. That was seconded properly and approved.
Jason asked Vic about name tags, and Vic said "Just today."
Then there was some discussion about the bell tower completion and payment.
Vic said there was some paperwork to sign for that.
Public comment was next just about 9 p.m.
Carole Pollard: [I did not get a recording of this meeting (or have buried it on my desk), but I can summarize my remarks.]
First, about the NOPEC/Restoration Society Summer Celebration: It was a success. I went into detail, but Stacy Turner wrote a lovely article in the August first or second Weekly Villager, and today's (August 12) Record Courier has an article with photos. What didn't get into either publication is that Brian and Dottie Summerlin took the left over pizza, cookies, and cake to the Mantua Village Police Department and the Mantua Shalersville Fire Department.
Second, I asked Jodie Thompson again about the records request I had made some time ago for the number of late payments the township had had to make and made it very clear that she needed to convey that information SOON. [It is in my Inbox; upon reviewing it, I will pass on that information in a separate blog post.]
I asked about the audit, and when Jodie said that it was still ongoing, I told her that Jill Corbett's audit in Shalersville had taken three days. Jodie's rejoinder was that the Shalersville audit was a partial audit, but that Mantua Township was getting a full audit.
[I think I was unconvinced at that information. At this rate, the Mueller investigation will be over before the MantuaTownship audit.]
Finally, I told Jodie that Marie Stehli had vouched for her; that probably a number of people had voted for her because of Marie's reputation; and that, therefore, "You owe her."
Terry Hronek: To add to what Carole Pollard asked and Jason had asked: [Terry went through the long trail of confusion about asking for answers about the finances.] We have never gotten answers on some of these questions.
Vic explained some things about that. [It was a payment, I believe, and it may have been to Terry's employer for work on the Civic Center. Do not quote me on that.]
Vic, continuing: It was in the mail at the same time we were writing another check.
Jason: Some of the questions were in relation to the budget. [They were in relation to the fund accounting.. Jason explained how some of the funds work.] We have seen the general fund begin to increase a little over the years.
Terry, to John Festa: You mentioned you had talked to Middlefield Bank. Rick Coe at PCB may also be able to give you some information and maybe offer a little competition.
John Festa talked about if possible staying within the community. There is only so much available in interest rates. As a township, you have to buy something the government backs. On $485,000 last year we made $700.
Dave Pollard: A couple points of information--I think Middlefield is one of the few privately owned banks around.
I didn't have a chance to bring this up to Bill Steiner. My wife lives in Pennsylvania. There, as long as there is a recycling triangle on whatever it is, they take it. But our service has been dropping. Now that the fee is going onto the Real Estate Tax bill, that is not private enterprise.
Another about Baxter Black, who talked about going somewhere in Montana. The whole county is about 1500 people. They were getting a community health care center and were all excited about being able to do for themselves. We have come a long way down since World War II [when people did a lot more for themselves.]
Sunday, August 5, 2018
A True Summer Celebration
Thanks to all who came to the NOPEC-sponsored summer celebration hosted by The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., at the Mantua Center School building on July 28.
Those who came can vouch for what a good time it was, and those who didn't come missed a good party.
Your faithful blogger was waiting to see if this (August 5) Sunday's Record Courier had any coverage, but it looks as if the paper is about three weeks behind.
However, Stacy Turner, in last Thursday's (August 2) Weekly Villager, did a lovely wrap up, concentrating on some of the people: Nora Brant and John Zeit. If you attended the last annual meeting of the restoration society, you were there when Nora, on behalf of the Brant family, donated $1,000 to the bell tower fund in Cal Brant's name.
Nora and Travis Brant rang the bell partly to mark the beginning of the celebration and partly to honor Cal, who put in many hours, not all of them paid, of work on the township's buildings, notably the township hall and the school. One of the last things Cal did was to wrap the bell tower in plastic to protect it from further effects from the weather. At the time when he did that, the grant money for that work had not been applied for nor gained. When Hummel Construction workers began on the bell tower, they said that what Cal had done was well done and had indeed protected the bell tower.
Although the elevator is not yet open to us, the bell tower renovation is complete, and it gleamed in the sunshine of a perfect day. We have Eric Hummel and Hummel Construction to thank for that work. In appreciation we had a picture of the bell tower and Thank You Hummel Construction put on one of the two sheet cakes that were part of the celebration. Eric came to the event and did not know about the cake decoration until we asked him to cut it, and he looked as delighted as a kid at Christmas.
Another person who has given much to the elevator project is John Zeit, architect. In addition to providing drawings when needed and some oversight of the project, John designed the elevator enclosure/lobby on the exterior of the building. From Center Road, it is undetectable, and even from the west side parking lot, it is so carefully done that it is almost unnoticeable. Yes, I know, what architect wants his work to be unnoticeable? But in the case of historic buildings, the less a modification impinges on the original structure, the better. A repurposed school building in (I believe) Huntington Township in Lorain County has had an elevator added. Besides the lobby, there is now an external "pod" the height of the building on the exterior. And in Chagrin Falls, a school on Philomatheon Street that is very much in the tradition of our building looks odd from one point of view. Something is off--the symmetry and proportions. That off-balance quality is the result of the addition of an elevator. So we are fortunate in how little obvious intrusion was made on the original appearance of our building by the elevator.
I'm sure you didn't start reading this blog post to get an essay on architectural aesthetics.
Chuck Casalicchio did karaoke, and I understand that Lynn Harvey had a go at that. Mostly, when I saw that part of the day, people were sitting to be entertained. Their lack of participation certainly wasn't Chuck's fault!
We got a 100-person capacity tent from Top of the Hill Tents (Tim Bennett), and at one point it was full--maybe not every chair, but the footprint was full of people.
The balloon artist was truly an artist. I don't know how those fantastical creatures are created, but they were something to behold, especially the octopus. That was a really popular tent with the kids. And, to use a cliche, kids of all ages enjoyed the face painting, and the two ladies doing that were busy pretty much all day.
Martha Vechery Levine and a colleague of hers had all kinds of games for the kids, too, and they had a lot of action on the playground.
Although the adults chose to treat the swing dancers as a spectator event rather than a participatory one, the kids were not so backward. Valerie Salstrom, the owner of Gethep Swing, had the kids doing line dancing, and they did, balloon animal hats and all.
The Walnut Hill Cloggers rounded out the indoor entertainment with about 45 minutes of high energy dancing. If you see a notice that they are performing anywhere, it's worth going to see them.
We(I) guessed wrong about how much pizza we would need, so Brian and Dottie Summerlin made the Mantua Police Department and the Mantua Shalersville Fire Department (who came with a truck and the squad) very happy with the leftover pizza, cake, and cookies.
Commissioner Vicki Kline showed up and said some very nice things. Like all of us, she is very happy that we are so close to having this whole project complete after so long. And we are fortunate that the commissioners have been so supportive and so patient.
The restoration society is not quite sure how to do a similar celebration for the elevator, since NOPEC put up the money for this one. And, as treasurer Lynn Harvey has pointed out, the society is not in the business of throwing parties. It is in the business of raising money to help the trustees rehabilitate the historic buildings and sites that the township owns. We'll wait and see.
The people who came out to this true celebration are the heroes of the story--they come to events at the school, they bake cookies, and they donate to the restoration society. Without that support, this really would not have been possible. They have demonstrated, since the open house in 2010, that this building matters and that they want to be able to use it. We are about there.
Those who came can vouch for what a good time it was, and those who didn't come missed a good party.
Your faithful blogger was waiting to see if this (August 5) Sunday's Record Courier had any coverage, but it looks as if the paper is about three weeks behind.
However, Stacy Turner, in last Thursday's (August 2) Weekly Villager, did a lovely wrap up, concentrating on some of the people: Nora Brant and John Zeit. If you attended the last annual meeting of the restoration society, you were there when Nora, on behalf of the Brant family, donated $1,000 to the bell tower fund in Cal Brant's name.
Nora and Travis Brant rang the bell partly to mark the beginning of the celebration and partly to honor Cal, who put in many hours, not all of them paid, of work on the township's buildings, notably the township hall and the school. One of the last things Cal did was to wrap the bell tower in plastic to protect it from further effects from the weather. At the time when he did that, the grant money for that work had not been applied for nor gained. When Hummel Construction workers began on the bell tower, they said that what Cal had done was well done and had indeed protected the bell tower.
Although the elevator is not yet open to us, the bell tower renovation is complete, and it gleamed in the sunshine of a perfect day. We have Eric Hummel and Hummel Construction to thank for that work. In appreciation we had a picture of the bell tower and Thank You Hummel Construction put on one of the two sheet cakes that were part of the celebration. Eric came to the event and did not know about the cake decoration until we asked him to cut it, and he looked as delighted as a kid at Christmas.
Another person who has given much to the elevator project is John Zeit, architect. In addition to providing drawings when needed and some oversight of the project, John designed the elevator enclosure/lobby on the exterior of the building. From Center Road, it is undetectable, and even from the west side parking lot, it is so carefully done that it is almost unnoticeable. Yes, I know, what architect wants his work to be unnoticeable? But in the case of historic buildings, the less a modification impinges on the original structure, the better. A repurposed school building in (I believe) Huntington Township in Lorain County has had an elevator added. Besides the lobby, there is now an external "pod" the height of the building on the exterior. And in Chagrin Falls, a school on Philomatheon Street that is very much in the tradition of our building looks odd from one point of view. Something is off--the symmetry and proportions. That off-balance quality is the result of the addition of an elevator. So we are fortunate in how little obvious intrusion was made on the original appearance of our building by the elevator.
I'm sure you didn't start reading this blog post to get an essay on architectural aesthetics.
Chuck Casalicchio did karaoke, and I understand that Lynn Harvey had a go at that. Mostly, when I saw that part of the day, people were sitting to be entertained. Their lack of participation certainly wasn't Chuck's fault!
We got a 100-person capacity tent from Top of the Hill Tents (Tim Bennett), and at one point it was full--maybe not every chair, but the footprint was full of people.
The balloon artist was truly an artist. I don't know how those fantastical creatures are created, but they were something to behold, especially the octopus. That was a really popular tent with the kids. And, to use a cliche, kids of all ages enjoyed the face painting, and the two ladies doing that were busy pretty much all day.
Martha Vechery Levine and a colleague of hers had all kinds of games for the kids, too, and they had a lot of action on the playground.
Although the adults chose to treat the swing dancers as a spectator event rather than a participatory one, the kids were not so backward. Valerie Salstrom, the owner of Gethep Swing, had the kids doing line dancing, and they did, balloon animal hats and all.
The Walnut Hill Cloggers rounded out the indoor entertainment with about 45 minutes of high energy dancing. If you see a notice that they are performing anywhere, it's worth going to see them.
We(I) guessed wrong about how much pizza we would need, so Brian and Dottie Summerlin made the Mantua Police Department and the Mantua Shalersville Fire Department (who came with a truck and the squad) very happy with the leftover pizza, cake, and cookies.
Commissioner Vicki Kline showed up and said some very nice things. Like all of us, she is very happy that we are so close to having this whole project complete after so long. And we are fortunate that the commissioners have been so supportive and so patient.
The restoration society is not quite sure how to do a similar celebration for the elevator, since NOPEC put up the money for this one. And, as treasurer Lynn Harvey has pointed out, the society is not in the business of throwing parties. It is in the business of raising money to help the trustees rehabilitate the historic buildings and sites that the township owns. We'll wait and see.
The people who came out to this true celebration are the heroes of the story--they come to events at the school, they bake cookies, and they donate to the restoration society. Without that support, this really would not have been possible. They have demonstrated, since the open house in 2010, that this building matters and that they want to be able to use it. We are about there.
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