Public Comment began at 8:50 p.m.
Cal Brant, Wayne Road: The township gets to spend a lot of money on ditches. Where does the responsibility of the landowner come into play? I think they should be responsible for cleaning their own ditches and culverts. People had their driveways plowed and push junk into the ditches and then the township gets the problem of cleaning.
Mark: I think the township should have the ability to charge back to the resident. But under primarily housekeeping, a resident should keep leaves and trash out of their own ditches. We do not have the resources to handle leaf collection.
Jason: The ditches are there for the roads, not for the houses.
Cal: But if they do not keep things clean, they should have to do something.
Barbara Herbold, corner of Wayne and Sheldon: I think the watering cans [donated by the Crestwood Lions Club to each township's cemeteries] look nice right there [on top of the piano], because things come up missing at the cemetery. But it is nice for the cans to be donated.
Also: Now the Wayne Road signs on 44 are missing.
Vic: The county and state have been notified.
Cal: There is a certain type of fasteners that take a special wrench . . .
Vic: We have those. They are taking post and all.
Carole Pollard, 5359 Allyn Road: [Note: I spoke without notes, so what is here in the blog is the substance of my remarks, but perhaps not the exact wording.] Because of the great variety of religions in this country, we don't have many cultural ceremonies in common. But the great national ritual or ceremony is voting. It is something that the whole community does, and it is important to do it in one place. [Some months ago, I had also spoken about this--about how wonderful it was to come back to vote in the Civic Center, drenched in sunlight and our building, not someone else's. I may either on 9/1 or at the earlier time have mentioned that I had some philosophical problems, given our Constitutional separation of church and state, with voting in a building with religious affiliations of any kind.]
In regard to parking, people park all over. Maybe temporary paint lines to define parking spaces would be a good idea. Also, for voting, people come and vote and leave, so even though there are a lot of cars, they don't all have to be there at once.
I also mentioned that I was glad to see Dominic's (sp?) Tree Service working on Skinner Road, since tree work had to be done before the paving could be done properly. Skinner has been torn up [with culvert cross-cuts just filled with limestone] for a long time. [Note: Vic also announced earlier that the tree work was being done and that the paving would begin very soon.]
Terri Vechery, Thornwood: I want to echo what Carole Pollard said. I think we have all been looking forward to having us all together there [in the school to vote]. The Board of Elections would probably not have approved it if they thought parking would be a problem. There will be 16 workers' cars and they will park in the back.
I think that temporary paint would be a good idea. You will find out quickly if people are not happy [because it is awkward or crowded].
Dave Pollard, 3692 S.R. 82: On the issue of rental and security deposit--on an apartment or house, the security deposit is the first and last month's rent (or was when I was renting). What if you had a rental fee of $60.00. Double it and the deposit is $120 no matter the size of the group. That way, if someone is only going to use it for a couple of hours, the security deposit would be [proportionately] less and the cleanup would be less also.
There is a school bus that uses School Lane, so in the matter of voting, that would be something to consider. [Blogger: I think that School Lane as a place for overflow parking had been mentioned earlier.]
Vic: The bus has to sit there for a couple of minutes of down time.
Dave, also: At the last meeting, I mentioned the actual low cost of the school.
At $147,000, the cost per square foot is $8.19. [Note: That is what the trustees paid to purchase the school.]
If we had used the inflated figure of $627,000, we have still only spent $35.00 per square foot. That is less than half the cost of the basic, [bare-bones] building. [That cost is $85.00 per square foot.]
The property, two acres, brings the whole square footage with the building on it to 105,120 square feet. [Thus] the building and land cost 71.2 cents per square foot I don't think the whole Western Reserve went that cheap. Ya gotta treat it like a business, folks--we still got a bargain.
I think there are some things we can still pursue with the help of The Friends of the Center School [for fund raising and other help].
Larry Lietzow and Steve Zelinski: No comment from either.
Roger Hurd, Center Road: I would like to read something from the [Cleveland] Plain Dealer of July 15, 2011. On the editorial page is a "Cheers and Jeers" section. [This is] one of the jeers: ". . . to unscrupulous individuals who try to misuse public records laws for private gain. The Ohio Supreme Court last week affirmed jury findings that Timothy Rhodes--who initially sought $4.9 million from the city of New Philadelphia for recording over 9-1-1 tapes--wasn't entitled to a dime because he never actually wanted the information on the tapes; he was just fishing for a big fine. The public's hard-fought right to government records should not be sabotaged by scam artists."
Roger continued: Cases have been prosecuted for harassment of public officials seeking monetary gain from records requests as a flagrant abuse of a significant public right. Abuse of any right is despicable. A right abused is a right denied, according to the state Attorney General's office.
Roger continued: I suggest that the trustees consult with the Prosecutor's office about an individual in the township who has been harassing the trustees with unnecessary and unwarranted records requests.
[Blogger's note: As in the most recent previous posts, I am going to shift the order of things a little because they fit and relate to each other. The following segment of the final public comment came at its conclusion, but it is a direct response to Roger's remarks above. I suggest that you read both carefully and thoughtfully and compare what has been said in each.]
Dawn Pechman, S.R. 82: I would like to add one last comment. The legislation that was passed regarding the reduction of heavy fines for loss of historical records that Mr. Hurd referred to was really a very good thing because it does limit the potential loss that anybody can actually sustain.
[Blogger's Note: Two or three of us listened several times to Dawn's next remarks but could not really understand them. However, we did get this:
"It is very important for public records . . . [not intelligible] . . .public meetings. . . [unintelligible] . . . ."
However, this is something Dawn has said repeatedly over all of the years I have been attending trustees meetings: that it is important for public records to be accessible. In this township, they are, and Marie Stehli has for the most part had them ready for Dawn when she has requested them. Dawn has been less conscientious about picking them up when she has said she would. Just the facts, folks. No spin.]
About This Blog
The purpose of this blog is to give an accurate account of what is said during Public Comment at Mantua Township Trustees meetings.
Trustees' decisions are in the official minutes, available on request from the Mantua Township Fiscal Officer, Jodi Thompson, at 330-274-8443. The Township charges 10 cents per page. FAX, 330-274-8447. E-mail, fiscalofficer@mantuatownshipohio.gov. The minutes are also posted on the website after they have been approved. That means that there is usually a two-week lag between a given meeting and the minutes being available to read on the website.
Since meetings are the first and third Thursdays of the month, there is a three-week wait during months with five Thursdays.
Other items of interest or the writer's opinions will be included from time to time, clearly identified.
This is not a forum or chat room, but a source of information, so it is closed to outside input.
During the time I have been doing the blog, the posts have expanded to become very detailed accounts of the meetings. Doing that is time consuming, to say the least, and I am going to try to return to the public comment focus, with background and perspective (and the occasional pointed editorial comment). Such additions are usually enclosed in brackets. However, since some extended accounts of the meetings reveal significant things--and character--better than I could by commenting, there will probably still be a fair amount of semi-transcript. (Sigh.)
My thanks to the readers who have found the blog, and to the ones who from time to time tell me that they value it. You have encouraged me when the tedious work of keyboarding has made me wonder why I am doing this. Then you have reminded me, and I am grateful.
Trustees' decisions are in the official minutes, available on request from the Mantua Township Fiscal Officer, Jodi Thompson, at 330-274-8443. The Township charges 10 cents per page. FAX, 330-274-8447. E-mail, fiscalofficer@mantuatownshipohio.gov. The minutes are also posted on the website after they have been approved. That means that there is usually a two-week lag between a given meeting and the minutes being available to read on the website.
Since meetings are the first and third Thursdays of the month, there is a three-week wait during months with five Thursdays.
Other items of interest or the writer's opinions will be included from time to time, clearly identified.
This is not a forum or chat room, but a source of information, so it is closed to outside input.
During the time I have been doing the blog, the posts have expanded to become very detailed accounts of the meetings. Doing that is time consuming, to say the least, and I am going to try to return to the public comment focus, with background and perspective (and the occasional pointed editorial comment). Such additions are usually enclosed in brackets. However, since some extended accounts of the meetings reveal significant things--and character--better than I could by commenting, there will probably still be a fair amount of semi-transcript. (Sigh.)
My thanks to the readers who have found the blog, and to the ones who from time to time tell me that they value it. You have encouraged me when the tedious work of keyboarding has made me wonder why I am doing this. Then you have reminded me, and I am grateful.
Principles
Two ideas guide and support me:
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
______Attributed to Edmund Burke
GOOD PREVAILS.
Those ideas are also the reason I have been doing the blog since late February 2011.
I have discovered that a transcript is almost impossible to do and that verbatim accounts are usually not absolutely necessary. When in doubt, I check against a recording.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
______Attributed to Edmund Burke
GOOD PREVAILS.
Those ideas are also the reason I have been doing the blog since late February 2011.
I have discovered that a transcript is almost impossible to do and that verbatim accounts are usually not absolutely necessary. When in doubt, I check against a recording.
