Part Two
Historic Preservation was a part of the meeting, and I have decided to give it its own post, first because I have tried to keep posts short enough to encourage people to read them.
Lynn Harvey stated the second reason for posting this separately. Here are my notes on her comments and those of the members of the Zoning Commission and the Land Use Committee on that topic.
Lynn: We are meeting in the historic district of the Township. There have been some sentiments that the old school has been a waste of time and money and should not be finished, but demolished. My personal feelling is that the building is a wonderful part of the community and should be finished.
Other than scattered century homes and farm outbuildings, this is the greatest concentration of historic buildings. It would be inappropriate to put an all glass and steel home across from the Township buildings, for example.
We learned from the Historical Society that 30-35 years ago the buildings on the green were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. When you travel to communities where the old buildings have been retained, they are pretty places, not homogenized. Those buildings are in reasonably good shape.
Why can't we do the same thing with the school? It needs things to be done with it to make it usable. We [the Township] are in the black. What would be the point of spending lots of money to replace it?
Cal Brant: A lot of people are interested in space in this building. To see us waste something already in place . . . . [Blogger: Cal trailed off here, but the direction of the statement is clear.]
Lynn: The Trustees bought the building for meetings, assembly, and office space. The Zoning Commission thought of having room in the school for its offices. I was in three places trying to get everything together and done for this meeting--it takes an enormous amount of paper. Everything seeps to have been suspended and there is a group antagonistic to it.
There is no place else in the community where you could do this unless you go to a new place and spend millions of dollars. [Blogger: One such place is Deerfield Township, which spent $1,000,000 on its administrative offices and township hall. It is away from the center of the township.]
Cal Brant: Some money is beginning to come back into grant funds. I am sure we could come up with the grant money we need to move forward with this building here. But if we do not get the trustees off their duffs then nothing will happen. I said two years ago I would help with the bell tower.
Joan Martin: I was in hopes that we could get the offices here and get the files in one place.
Lynn: There are zoning files stored all over the place.
There was a question, perhaps from Joan, about the condition of the building.
Terri Vechery: It is exactly like it was when we went to school here.
Joy Brunetti: We are Township people--why can't we use this building?
Mark Hall: As a global view of the historic district, there are some things that can be addressed. he Land Use plan has to take a look at this as a historic area. It helps with a sense of community that you don't see any more.
Charlie English: The coming boom in prosperity from oil and gas should make a lot people wealthy, and my experience is that such people are generous. They might make donations or bequests to the school for its maintenance. One possibility is to sell business office condos. [ Blogger: I was told that this would actually be an R-2 use, while at present the zoning is for government use.] Charlie continued: The oil and gas development could be a boon for the community as long as it is not our undoing environmentally.
The following sections of the Zoning Book deal with Historic Preservation:
p. 9C: Historic and Cultural Features: Mantua Center School (1914)
p. 24 F. 1. Mantua Center is the primary historic area in the Twp.
p. 26: Statement of Objectives
G. Preserve historic integrity of areas in the township that contribute[s] significantly to the history of the township with such preservation efforts focused on Mantua Center.
p. 40 E. Historic Preservation.
1. Encourage Mantua Center as the "historic core of the township."
a) Develop standards to maintain the historic integrity and character of Mantua Center.
b) Preservation and adaptive reuse of existing historic structures.
c) Encourage public uses and community organizations to maximize use of structures in the area and
explore adaptive reuse options for . . . Mantua Center School.
d) Permit limited non-residential uses within significant historic homes if they are not marketable for single-family purposes as a way to minimize them from being torn down.
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.
