Jason called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. The usual opening procedures were followed, including reviewing and dealing with 4 sets of minutes.
For the Ladies Cemetery Association, Amy Janca and Barb Herbold are watering and and watering. They thanked the trustees for the new sign.
Trustees Reports:
Jason brought up various things about the roads, focused mostly on repairs at Old Taylor Woods. The repair would require tearing out the deteriorated area and redoing it, but that is very costly. Jason mentioned a matting used for this kind of work. It is $600 per roll.
Vic commented that the area had been dug out and repaired with limestone and mat, of which some was left. There is a lot of clay right there, and it is pushing up through everything. The Township also installed a lot of drainage pipe there, but that is not an issue this year, of course.
Jason: The website is up and in progress, a piece at a time. He wants the Zoning Commission and BZA to provide photographs.
The official Mantua Township website is at
mantuatownshipohio.gov
Jason asked Marie some questions about the insurance. See the official minutes for that information, if you want it.
John Festa asked about e-mail addresses on the website. [I believe that the e-mail addresses on the website are the Trustees Township e-mail addresses, not their personal addresses.]
John Festa went on to discuss the repairs on the Stirling truck, which he thought should be paid for at least in part by the business which had worked on the truck and had apparently broken something. [Note: The part or place in question was aluminum, with iron or steel having to be attached to it. The aluminum is much softer than the other metal and therefore vulnerable. Do any car guys out there remember aluminum-head engines during the '60's? Changing spark plugs was an exercise in delicacy, and even the most careful mechanic could mess something up.]
John Festa: I was thinking about calling the company and asking them to pay it. If they will not, then I think we should send the issue to Chris Meduri. We paid for the part and paid Brian Tayerle to fix it, and we paid the shop to recharge the air conditioner. The total looks to be about $1200.
There was more discussion about the trailers, and the one that had contained pre-school supplies. The issue of the contents being disposed of and placed outside was discussed. John Festa is going to do something about it.
Then he raised an issue about a driveway on Skinner Road that has had a very abrupt lip on it since the paving project last summer. There were about 25 driveways that had to have work done afterwards, and this one is the biggest problem because the asphalt was laid on top of cement there.
There was discussion about a secretary for the Board of Zoning Appeals. Keith Barton and Sandy Engelhart have both expressed interest in it.
John Festa, to Marie Stehli: Marie, I asked you for some contracts. Do you have them for me?
Marie: Yes. I have been anxiously waiting to give them to you.
Vic reported on the paving project on S.R. 44 north of Mantua Corners. Originally it had looked like a minor project, but now the road is going to be closed except to local traffic (according to the signs that are now up) for 14 days. Traffic is going to be routed onto Crackel to Mantua Center Road and back to Winchell.
Vic reported that the copper wire had been removed from the trailers and could be sold for scrap. He asked for approval to scrap it and turn turn the proceeds back into the school fund. It looks as if it will be a couple of hundred dollars. He made a motion to that effect.
John Festa: The people I thought were interested in the trailer are not interested. I may not want to be too hasty about putting the money into the school fund. We may have to use the income from the wire to move the trailers.
Vic: The school fund I am talking about is a maintenance fund.
Jason seconded the motion.
Vic added that one person had come and looked at the trailers. [I do not know whether a vote ended up being taken on the motion or whether it died.]
Tim Benner came on Sunday, checked the alarm system, and had problems with it. [The outcome of all of this is that Tim's price for the necessary items is considerably less than if the Township purchased everything.] The alarm system at the school was mentioned also. The rate for a technician is about $83.00 per hour. The total will come to about $250.00. There was a bit more discussion and then a motion was made, seconded, and passed to replace the batteries and do a walk-through.
Then there was discussion about Pioneer Trail and how to deal with that paving project. This involved the configuration of different types of drainage pipe and the height of the road.
John Festa wanted to be sure that our road crew and equipment would be used, and Vic said that it had already been spec'd into the project--as has been customary for us.
John Festa: So we can begin in September?
Vic: Oh, no. We are ready sooner.
There was more discussion about the road and its blocking water. Vic said that when the pipe is full now, the water backs up and goes over the road. But in the area in question, there are no driveways, so he does not know what the problem is there. (JF had said that someone had called about raising the road surface and dumping water on their property.)
Vic said he would work on that and would make sure that our crew was there. Part of it will have to be hand dug.
Vic also said that under Old Business, he had some valuable information regarding the painting at the Township Hall.
There was more about the Pioneer Trail paving project, including bid books that Vic handed out to Marie, Jason, and John Festa. Vic: It would be nice if Brian Tayerle had one, if one of you could give him one.
More on the north trailer at the school. John Festa said that the person he talked to lost interest upon looking at the trailers. He also thought it would be a real mess to tear them apart on the property, and Vic added that that would be a big mistake.
Jason said he would accept all ideas.
[Blogger: This is a reasonable place to end this section, since what follows is a rather detailed discussion about the condition of the paint at the Township Hall.]
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.
