Carole Pollard, Allyn Road: Since Lynn Harvey was not at the meeting, I reported on the volunteers who have contacted The Mantua Restoration Society to offer their skills in working on the school to get the Fiscal Officer's area ready to use. There are about a dozen, who can do everything from just "gopher" to install insulation, hang and finish drywall, frame, and generally do the kind of remodeling work that will be necessary.
Then, despite the fact that the previous couple of hours struck me as the equivalent of 30 pounds of nonsense in a 2-pound bag, I tried to address some of what had been mentioned in the meeting. Never knowing whether one's comments will be shut off at the whim or displeasure of the chairman adds to the pressure to cover as much ground as possible but makes doing it logically very difficult. In short, it was mission impossible. But I floundered into it.
Here is what I remember of the impromptu attempt: That the information from the Ohio Historic Preservation Office was very thorough, technically backed up with good, professional and scientific sources, and detailed enough to serve as a guideline for even a relatively inexperienced person to follow effectively.
I urged the trustees to keep it simple, instead of letting the job [every job, actually, based on observation] grow and grow. I think I urged that in particular for the Township Hall: address the ventilation problem and see how things work.
That's enough of that.
Jim Aldrich and Amy Janca had no comment.
Barb Herbold thanked Vic and Brian Tayerle for the mowing at the west side of the cemetery, which looks much better now.
Mark Hall, Loris Drive: Since you are going to be looking at material studies at the school, be sure to look at the tiles. Even though by definition 9 x 9 tile is said to be asbestos, be sure not to overlook those.
I do have a bit of concern on the party that would like exclusive rental rights on the gymnasium. That would preclude anyone else from getting in. There may be an accommodation.
The last item is the motion for executive session. It was for personnel matters, discipline, and promotion. I know discipline is under one of the areas of executive session. I don't recall promotion being included in that category.
Jason referred to page 91 of the Sunshine Laws, and Mark responded that he was not sure about one of them.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: I will try to keep this brief. I talked to Jim Kotkowski some years ago about digging along one side of my house, which has a sandstone foundation. That house was built during the Civil War and it has footer drains. What Jim said and another friend corroborated is that if you dig too close to a wall with a backhoe, you risk blowing the wall. You have to get several feet away and you can still get the water away [working at that distance].
A footer drain if you were going to go to that expense will not solve the moisture. On the north side of the building you can see that it is the first floor that has the moisture, not the second floor. The heavier moist air drops into the basement. The fact that the basement did not flood last year indicates that there is no water problem. Eric Hummel and John Vechery both said that the ground around the building is very hard clay.
Also, I have found a couple of trailer axles and a hitch and am working on it and will be able to get that trailer out of there [at the school building].
Steve Zielinski to Marie: Who designed the floor plan for the school [the drawings Marie presented at the beginning of the meeting].
Marie: I did.
Steve: Who drew it up?
Marie: The original architectural drawing was done by Dave Summers [Blogger: The architect who did the site assessment of the building when the trustees purchased it}.
Steve: OK.
Cal Brant, Wayne Road: I am confused about this process of going over and over things. I thought we had someone come in and give recommendations abouit how to do this and then Kirkpatrick and now we are talking about it again.
How long are we going to keep getting these recommendations [Blogger: which all say the same thing--that we can spot test and do a room at a time] without doing anything? What do you think is going to take place with an environmental study?
John Festa: I don't know. I am not an expert. [Blogger: But we have had expert after expert come in and look at the building. Despite their expert status, are they not saying what John Festa wants to hear?]
Cal: Who was the person who came from Mentor?
Vic: He was an inspector and tester.
Cal: So we are not going to use him.
Vic: We are going to call him back in. We can test room by room and the tests are very cheap.
Cal: We also have people with certification, so that if we go about working in that room, we can tell what has to be done. To John Festa: What are you looking for? First of all, insurance is a help, but it does not cover everything. We have somebody who gave recommendation and we are going to get them in. Are you going to follow their recommendations? Then what?
Cal: Are you going to go room by room--[start with] Marie Stehli's room since we want to get her in there?
John Festa: It is my intention to have the whole building checked. Eventually we are going to have the whole bilding checked.
Cal: Are you aware of how to go about renovation?
JF: I do it every day. [!]
Cal: Are you going to hire someone like Kirkpatrick and is he going to oversee the volunteers based on the sheet you have, and are you going to present that?
How are you going to get a contractor to bid on this not knowing what kind of volunteers you have? [Blogger: To be frank, I do not know whether Cal or John Festa said that.]
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.
