You may or may not have seen an earlier post under the same title as this one, in which I ruefully said that I had lost it. I simply cannot take another 2-1/2 to 3 hours to recreate the lost one, so this will be a summary similar to the one for the 7/2 walk-through of the school. Mostly.
On June 21, the Township's insurance agent met with the trustees and the fiscal officer. See the minutes for that information if you want it.
The deadline for Aurora Meadows residents to sign on to the sewer line project for only $240 has now passed; the fee now will be $8,000. Residents have had a year and a half to sign on.
There was discussion about a resident on Old Frost Road, which is not paved, having asked about whether something could be done about the dust. Dust suppression is expensive. John Festa reported that they [residents, I assume] said that the trustees had told them that they would pave the road. [Blogger: What I remember from the election campaign is that John Festa was promising to pave the roads.]
Vic: Testing the school for asbestos and lead paint [again]. We met with two companies and did a walk through of the school to get proposals for different types of testing. One of them was from Mentor and had a recommendation that we really don't need to test everything at once, but room by room or floor by floor. His cost on average was only $10.00 per test. I had brought up before that maybe we should walk through a floor and determine the uses for the rooms. If we wanted to put up a wall, he could test just where we wanted to attach a wall; we would only have to pay for a few tests.
They were impressed with the good condition of the paint.
Mold is apparently not a problem. There might be a couple of areas. Testing can be an air test or a swab test, with the swab test probably preferable.
Asbestos--There are actually several different kinds of asbestos, and [blogger--if I remember correctly from this an previous reports] all are not equally problematical.
Lead certified contractors--we fall into a very gray area. It depends on who you talk to. Some say the contractor has to be certified, and say that the contractor can supervise. I really think at this point that our next step is to set up a walk-through. I can bring the little floor plans I have and show them to you (the other two trustees).
John Festa: Did we ever consider a consultant? [Blogger: Consultant=money. One of the things that bothers me about the present composition of the board of trustees is that the two newest members ignore input from people who have great depth of knowledge and have consistently over years researched information. It seems to me as if all the discussions about safety at the school completely ignore Vic's familiarity with the building--after all, he has worked on it and worked on it and worked on it--and also discount both the expertise and the recommendations of the people he has had in to do inspections. If all you have is the words on paper, it is less evident. In the meetings, the tone of voice says a great deal.]
Vic: (In response to the question about a consultant) Both people said they would give us recommendations. The man from Mentor with HCW Environmental was very impressive. He was the highest paid of the group.
They seemed very informative of what we can do and can write up recommendations of what has to be done.
John Festa: Take a good look so it does not come back and haunt us.
Vic: It would be nice to do a walk-through to decide what we want to do with the rooms and then have them tell us how to go about it. [Blogger: This was part of what led up to the July 2 meeting at the school building.]
There was discussion about painting the Township Hall. John Festa thought we should move forward on this. Marie said that the budget for the Hall is $2500.
Vic asked if anyone had been up to check the shutters to see what would be involved in repairing them before we paint. Are we going to look at anyone local?
[Blogger: There was more discussion about this, but the reports and comments about it during the July 18 meeting put it into perspective and give a lot more information.]
There was discussion about the Fire Department report on the buildings, and Marie mentioned Workers Compensation renewal. See the minutes if you want to get details on those two topics.
Marie: I would like to pass out the cash disbursements before the auditors are done. This will give you an idea of how we do the purchasing. This is what we have done without ever writing a new policy.
Jason: I did quite a few changes that I will get to you. I do not think a purchase requisition is/was necessary.
Marie: I have some other comments also. The e-mail I got from Chris Meduri had no problems other than a couple of things to straighten out. He told me that purchases over $2500 needed to be approved. [Blogger: This is in reference to the multiple-page mostly copied from Twinsburg purchasing policy that was mentioned in an earlier post as including references to a Township Manager, among other things. See my remarks above about ignoring Vic's knowledge. The same discounting seems to be directed at Marie as well. She is sometimes addressed as if she were a not-very-bright secretary rather than the most educated person at the front table, and one with an impeccable record.]
The discussions about the trailers on the west side of the school continued. See the minutes and subsequent posts about that topic.
Public Comment began at 9:45p.m.
Carole Pollard gave a preview of what is planned for the Ice Cream Social and thanked the Garden Club for a donation to The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc.
Hazardous materials: The huge fines and restrictions apply as deterrents to foolishness and cutting corners, but are not obstacles to moving forward. What it takes to deal with lead paint is not to disturb it, and if it has to be disturbed, have a certified supervisor to oversee the project. A HEPA filter must be used--cost, $30.00. The suits required are $20.00 each and can be reused. The total cost to deal with it could be as little as $500.
Lynn Harvey asked about whether someone from zoning could be at the July 2 walk-through and was told that it is a public meeting.
Roger Hurd said that he thought people should sign both the attendance sheet and the public comment sign-up sheet when they arrived, instead of waiting to see who was at the meeting and then signing up so as to have the last word in public comment.
Dave Pollard: Dave mentioned some field tile on the west edge of the cemetery. [Since so much land is shifting from farmland to other uses, the knowledge of drainage tiles is gradually lost, and problems occur when those tiles are broken and not repaired or obstructed in some other way.]
Dave, continuing: Concerning Old Frost: Paving it would be brutally expensive and would involve moving the phone line, among many other things. Have the property owners changed their minds about paving it?
Jason answered that the residents--7 houses--disagree with each other on this topic. [Even on the rough dirt road, cars travel very fast on that road, so some residents don't want it any better.]
Dave: I heard a report on NPR or someplace that many rural townships are looking at going back to dirt roads.
Dan Cozzens: I would like to clarify about the insurance. John Festa and Jason--it seemed to be a shock when John Festa brought it up. Why weren't they notified--why was it lied about? The agent said it was discussed by Marie Stehli and Vic Grimm. I am wondering why the two of you were not included. [The tone was contentious and accusatory. The "lie" was an assumption on Mr. Cozzens' part.]
Marie: The agent usually meets with me. They also want inventory on the garage. Vic is the most knowledgeable, so I asked him to come.
Vic: Everyone had the books from the last meeting--the same as were handed out tonight. We have been doing this every year for I don't know how many years
Dan: That doesn't make it right.
Vic: It was a review and the books were brought here to the meeting.
Dan: I don't understand why it was done that way. [Blogger: And lack of understanding constitutes some evil plot?]
Vic: I see we are getting nowhere.
Dan: Another thing about the school: If you test the first floor and then work on the upper floors, it will affect the rest of them.
Vic: That was the recommendation of a professional who does this every day and that is the way we have done it with another contractor. We pay to have it tested. [Blogger: what is not in my notes is how many times Dan Cozzens interrupted and overrode Vic while he was talking.]
Vic: All you want to do is argue.
Dan: No I don't! [Blogger: Volume and intensity belied that assertion entirely.]
Vic: That is why I want to do a walk-through.
Dan: Pick and choose.
Vic: Look in the minutes of the last meeting.
Vic reiterated that the two professionals had said that where the work is going to be done is where things should be tested.
Jason: I think a lot of questions are going to be answered on the walk-through.
Cal Brant: Do we have a plan for the painting of the building?
John Festa: All I got was quotes.
Cal: Prep is the most important part. Do you have a product compatible with what you are going to use? Did you put out a bid sheet specifying what you are going to use?
Jason: How are we supposed to know that? [Blogger: It's called research. It comes with the territory.]
Cal: He (John Festa) likes plans--I want to know if he has a plan. Do we know which rooms [in the school] are going to be used? No? Then during the walk-through can we have a plan? Do you have a list of the people who want to use that building?
Cal, continuing: Vic talked to the right person and got the right information.
John Festa: I was there, Cal.
Cal: And you didn't learn anything?
John Festa: I learned a lot. [Blogger: 1. Was anyone else surprised to hear that, after Vic did all the heavy lifting on reporting about the meeting with the consultants? 2. No one was left to ask John Festa
what he learned, and he did not elaborate. Subsequent meetings and comments seem to contradict his claim that he learned a lot.]
Vic: (To John Festa) You said the paint was not very good. [This was the paint on the Township Hall.] It was the best at the time. It was 41% solids, latex paint.
John Festa: It should have been stained.
Vic: That was the best at the time.
The motion to pay the bills came shortly after that. Generally, most people leave at that point, and the camera for the rogue website gets shut off and removed. At this meeting, there was a confrontation at the door among several people which which was part of what led to the suspension of public comment at the next meeting--even though the confrontation was initiated by one person who apparently gets unsettled when people look at him while he talks. It is a public meeting, after all.
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.
