'Tis the season to kick back and eat leftover turkey, stuffing, and Christmas cookies. Your faithful blogger intends to do just that. Well, I gave away all of the cookies, but not before sampling enough of them to be sure that they passed muster. My jeans can attest to that.
The blog will be back after the first of the year with a post for the December 20 trustees meeting, among other things.
The next trustees meeting is on January 10 at the Township Hall, and it may begin at 7:00 instead of 7:30. The first meeting of the year is always three meetings: End of Year; Beginning of Year (when chairman and vice chairman are chosen and representatives to various other entities like the Mantua Shalersville Fire Department board are designated); and the first regular meeting of the year.
The meetings simply run consecutively, rather than having set times for each to begin and end.
One more thing to remember is that the Mantua Center School gymnasium annex is available for rent (and was nicely busy during December). So far, everyone who has ended up in it for whatever reason has been impressed. Vic Grimm is handling those rentals; call 330-274-2850 for prices and arrangements. And tell your friends.
A final one more thing: Our fiscal officer, Marie Stehli, is now officed in the Mantua Center School building, in an interim space. The number there is 330-274-8443. There has been discussion about shifting the long-time township fiscal office number, which has a 995 prefix, to the school building, but I do not know its status.
Happy New Year!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Mantua Twp. Trustees 12-4-12, Public Comment concluded
Public Comment Continued:
Carole Pollard, Allyn Road: At the last meeting, you [Jason] mentioned the possibility of spending $2,000 to put something on the ballot about the school, and I wanted to comment about the climate we are in right now. To the amazement of everyone in the school system, we passed a levy for new money for the first time in 21 years. Everyone's taxes are going to go up. I talked to someone who is on a fixed income who said they would have to move because they will not be able to afford the increase. The margin was fairly close--53 to 47-- so a lot of people are not happy about that increase. In addition to that, no one knows what is going to happen in Washington, D.C., and if worst comes to worst, everyone's taxes will go up further. People under those circumstances will say, to be blunt, "NFW" to another tax levy.
If you want it to fail and to look as if people don't want the school, spending that $2,000 would be an excellent idea. But if you do want to keep your word about what you said about getting us into the school, the restoration society can match that $2,000 to get a good start on the west room and possibly even complete it. I know you have to look at the whole project, but you don't do a whole project all in one go. If you say "Here is the whole thing, air conditioning, this that and the other thing, etc.," it will be a huge amount and everyone will gag on it and again you could say, "See, they don't want it."
If you say, "This is the whole cost and this is what we propose to do a step at a time, and this room is already done and look how nice it looks," people will be encouraged, somewhat like the gentleman from Remington Point said. In terms of the proposed expenses, I have talked to someone in historic preservation who said that you do not insulate inside a masonry wall. Three courses of masonry is sufficient. [Blogger: I was fumbling for the right term, which had gone AWOL in my head. It is thermal mass and has to do with how a wall deals with heat or cold.]
The Mantua Restoration Society is in a position to be able to help you keep your word and pick up some of the costs. It is so close, it would not take very long, and $4,000 to get that room done and maybe $1,000 for the lighting not just for that room but for more, and you have a good start. You have something to show people that they would like and that you would be proud of.
Also, if you are willing to spend money on this building [Township Hall] without knowing the outcome for 5-10 years, what is the problem with the school? I think Lynn Harvey's term "silent majority" is accurate. The people who have made a lot of noise are not the only ones who have a stake in that building [the school]. For $2,000 to put it on the ballot, that would be a waste of the taxpayers' money; you would get nothing out of it.
Jason responded: Vic, John, and myself were voted to spend our money wisely for the 4,000-5,000 residents of the township. [ Here, in meetings] it takes a majority vote, and each of us has one vote. If it would take a large amount that the township could not afford, along with what the restoration society could provide, I would not be opposed to going to the voters: " Here is the project and here is the estimated cost. Is this a good idea?" Each of us would get a vote just like everyone in the township to say whether everyone wants to go forward. We have now afforded everyone in the township to have an equal voice. I only propose that if it is a large sum of money.
Carole asked to make a brief response, and Jason assented.
Carole: What you say sounds fine. Had the school not been demonized the way it has been for at least three years, what you say would be perfectly reasonable and probably would have a chance to succeed. But the only way you can make it work now is if the people who have opposed it would change and work as hard to support you and getting the school as they worked to oppose it.
The animosity John Festa mentioned is focused on the school. That has been turned into a sore point. This isn't going to go away unless people have conversions on the road to Damascus.
Matt Parsons: No comments this evening.
Lynn Harvey: Would you say the biggest problem in the township is the roads, financially?
Jason: I would not say ___ is the ____.[Blogger: I have to check this against a recording.]
Lynn: All of the money has to come from the road and bridge/road levy?
Marie: About 70% of the budget goes to roads.
Lynn: I only remember one road levy in 25 years. The price of pavement in the last 20-30 years has gone up 10 times, or whatever. This is a big deal for a small township like this one to keep the roads good. If you look at the school, can't money be set aside for it as the fiscal year closes; could we count on that money to be available? Do we start at zero?
If you figure the cost of the school, that is not going to ____, once you get it done either all at once or in parts, which seems to be realistic.
Roads are always going to be breaking down, but once that building is done and we get energy efficient windows, and we are working to get more money, that is not going to constantly sink your budget. Then the people who live here will be able to have things they have not been able to have. That is a perfect spot for it. Places in the building can be appropriately rented to help it carry itself.
People deserve to be in that building, and it would be a nice thing to give them a perk. Other communities can do it. There is a lot going on in the newspaper, not all in Portage County, about people getting community rooms for their townships. Nelson and Macedonia are examples. The one in Nelson is called the Nelson Community House, and I don't think they are any richer than we are.
Vic: Their budget is not as big as ours. When we looked at buying the school, we looked at all the options. Because we didn't have some things we thought would fit, we bought it for the community. As far as the day care, that was to help us with the cost of things. It was not to pay for the building,and the three people on the board talked to a lot of people and we could not find 20 people against it until the last 2-3 years. That school was built for the community.
Lynn: I agree. If there are 5,000 people in the township, for a year that is $3.00 per person for the light bill. [The utility bill for the school is about $12,000 per year.]
Vic: You have to look at the square footage.
Lynn: So let me inflate the number: $5.00 per year for the building. But paving is endless. Paving is not an asset like that structure is, and you can not have a meeting on it.
Jason: I absolutely understand.
Steve Zelinsky: Nothing this evening.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: Let me say that as far as Meadow Creek and Old Taylor Woods are concerned, based on my experience up there, I fixed a 6" tile, and there was clay all the way down. [Dave described lying flat and reaching the length of his arm down to work on the tile. So--over 30" of clay, and not to the bottom of it?]
I wish there was a way for the township to require the people who build houses and put in roads to do a better road. A road that would hold up in Thornwood would never hold up on the land in Old Taylor Woods. We are going to have the same problem in the next one because the builder will do the same thing again and the county will approve it.
The other thing is that what you are proposing for putting the school on the ballot is a referendum. [Jason objected to that.] Dave continued: It is the equivalent of a referendum. Put a road levy on the ballot--if the people said no, would that mean they did not want roads? Put a road levy on and that would free up money for the school and it would make the roads look good.
To use the school referendum is short sighted and transparent. We [the Mantua Restoration Society] formed to help. Why can we[?] [you?] turn down free money? We can buy the lighting but the trustees would have to do the rest.
Dan Cozzens: You guys are doing a great job on the roads. Keep it up. Just because they [Old Taylor Woods] pay higher taxes does not justify paving their roads first.
About the school: getting your plan together is the smart way to do it. any one would do that with their own house. The ballot issue was just mentioned and not a certain amount of money. You need to know what it will cost and what you are going to do.
Mr. Zula, Skinner Road: You kind of answered some of my concerns in mentioning the big picture. I wondered whether there was a master plan for getting this building renovated. I don't understand why people are rushing.
[Blogger: Mr. Zula does not understand why some of us are "rushing" because he has not seen the twists and turns that have been made in opposing or criticizing the school. First, it was that it taken too long--seven years! It's too long!--and then, with the most recent election, suddenly everything has slowed to a crawl. For example: Cal Brant and Marie Stehli both submitted plans/proposals with cost estimates sometime during the summer. Jason said three years ago that he would work to get us into the school and called a special meeting at the end of May 2012 that ran for about three hours, ostensibly to study getting us into the school. In all that time, no proposals or cost estimates had been made from up front. Once Marie turned in something, then Jason reviewed it and added things to it. That took at least two more weeks. At least.]
[Then, if I remember correctly, Jason asked Vic and John Festa for their input. Vic gave his at the next meeting. John Festa had to study it more and opined as how there was no rush. I think it took him at least a month to get his list together, and it contains things that (a) have been deemed unnecessary or even harmful to the building by experts in the field and (b) will cost thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. So 6 weeks and probably more like two months--at least--have been taken up on that. At this meeting, Vic's desire for a purchase order for the lights--the same lights that Jason has spec'd out in his list--was deflected.]
[Those of us who attend many to all of the meetings know what happened because we saw it for ourselves.]
Vic: When we did the annex we got a price and we came in way low. That freed up money to do other things. The outside work, the outside parking lot, was estimated at $30,000. We did it for $22,000.
Mr. Zula: If there is a plan, the school should be included in it. Why would you be afraid to give us a figure on this? Is there a cost analysis on this?
Vic: You have to understand that the building is split into three different groups--education, business, and assembly. We had a meeting in 2010 and decided to begin with the annex. We had to get to the building department, and they finally accepted it as assembly. [Blogger: That apparently simple thing took a long time and did not occur until there was a new supervisor in the building department.]
Mr. Zula: Can you give a figure?
Vic: Not yet.
Mr. Zula: I am just asking for a figure. If you just did a little here and a little there, you have yourself a money pit.
[Blogger: And there you have the negative buzz words: plan, cost analysis, money pit. Jason is doing a cost analysis now: the big picture. I'm not quite sure why Vic is the one being asked for that prematurely. When Marie analyzed the actual cost per person to that point, about a year and a half ago, her figures were called lies. As far as a master plan is concerned, I am inclined to believe that it would have been subjected to such ferocious Monday morning quarterbacking that it would have looked like confetti--like what was done with Marie's suggestions, but not nearly so gently. Again, my remarks are the result of having attended nearly every meeting for the last 7 years or so--such fun! (Not.) Merely my opinion? It's based on a lot of hours of observing all the jockeying from the back and side of the room.]
Carole Pollard, Allyn Road: At the last meeting, you [Jason] mentioned the possibility of spending $2,000 to put something on the ballot about the school, and I wanted to comment about the climate we are in right now. To the amazement of everyone in the school system, we passed a levy for new money for the first time in 21 years. Everyone's taxes are going to go up. I talked to someone who is on a fixed income who said they would have to move because they will not be able to afford the increase. The margin was fairly close--53 to 47-- so a lot of people are not happy about that increase. In addition to that, no one knows what is going to happen in Washington, D.C., and if worst comes to worst, everyone's taxes will go up further. People under those circumstances will say, to be blunt, "NFW" to another tax levy.
If you want it to fail and to look as if people don't want the school, spending that $2,000 would be an excellent idea. But if you do want to keep your word about what you said about getting us into the school, the restoration society can match that $2,000 to get a good start on the west room and possibly even complete it. I know you have to look at the whole project, but you don't do a whole project all in one go. If you say "Here is the whole thing, air conditioning, this that and the other thing, etc.," it will be a huge amount and everyone will gag on it and again you could say, "See, they don't want it."
If you say, "This is the whole cost and this is what we propose to do a step at a time, and this room is already done and look how nice it looks," people will be encouraged, somewhat like the gentleman from Remington Point said. In terms of the proposed expenses, I have talked to someone in historic preservation who said that you do not insulate inside a masonry wall. Three courses of masonry is sufficient. [Blogger: I was fumbling for the right term, which had gone AWOL in my head. It is thermal mass and has to do with how a wall deals with heat or cold.]
The Mantua Restoration Society is in a position to be able to help you keep your word and pick up some of the costs. It is so close, it would not take very long, and $4,000 to get that room done and maybe $1,000 for the lighting not just for that room but for more, and you have a good start. You have something to show people that they would like and that you would be proud of.
Also, if you are willing to spend money on this building [Township Hall] without knowing the outcome for 5-10 years, what is the problem with the school? I think Lynn Harvey's term "silent majority" is accurate. The people who have made a lot of noise are not the only ones who have a stake in that building [the school]. For $2,000 to put it on the ballot, that would be a waste of the taxpayers' money; you would get nothing out of it.
Jason responded: Vic, John, and myself were voted to spend our money wisely for the 4,000-5,000 residents of the township. [ Here, in meetings] it takes a majority vote, and each of us has one vote. If it would take a large amount that the township could not afford, along with what the restoration society could provide, I would not be opposed to going to the voters: " Here is the project and here is the estimated cost. Is this a good idea?" Each of us would get a vote just like everyone in the township to say whether everyone wants to go forward. We have now afforded everyone in the township to have an equal voice. I only propose that if it is a large sum of money.
Carole asked to make a brief response, and Jason assented.
Carole: What you say sounds fine. Had the school not been demonized the way it has been for at least three years, what you say would be perfectly reasonable and probably would have a chance to succeed. But the only way you can make it work now is if the people who have opposed it would change and work as hard to support you and getting the school as they worked to oppose it.
The animosity John Festa mentioned is focused on the school. That has been turned into a sore point. This isn't going to go away unless people have conversions on the road to Damascus.
Matt Parsons: No comments this evening.
Lynn Harvey: Would you say the biggest problem in the township is the roads, financially?
Jason: I would not say ___ is the ____.[Blogger: I have to check this against a recording.]
Lynn: All of the money has to come from the road and bridge/road levy?
Marie: About 70% of the budget goes to roads.
Lynn: I only remember one road levy in 25 years. The price of pavement in the last 20-30 years has gone up 10 times, or whatever. This is a big deal for a small township like this one to keep the roads good. If you look at the school, can't money be set aside for it as the fiscal year closes; could we count on that money to be available? Do we start at zero?
If you figure the cost of the school, that is not going to ____, once you get it done either all at once or in parts, which seems to be realistic.
Roads are always going to be breaking down, but once that building is done and we get energy efficient windows, and we are working to get more money, that is not going to constantly sink your budget. Then the people who live here will be able to have things they have not been able to have. That is a perfect spot for it. Places in the building can be appropriately rented to help it carry itself.
People deserve to be in that building, and it would be a nice thing to give them a perk. Other communities can do it. There is a lot going on in the newspaper, not all in Portage County, about people getting community rooms for their townships. Nelson and Macedonia are examples. The one in Nelson is called the Nelson Community House, and I don't think they are any richer than we are.
Vic: Their budget is not as big as ours. When we looked at buying the school, we looked at all the options. Because we didn't have some things we thought would fit, we bought it for the community. As far as the day care, that was to help us with the cost of things. It was not to pay for the building,and the three people on the board talked to a lot of people and we could not find 20 people against it until the last 2-3 years. That school was built for the community.
Lynn: I agree. If there are 5,000 people in the township, for a year that is $3.00 per person for the light bill. [The utility bill for the school is about $12,000 per year.]
Vic: You have to look at the square footage.
Lynn: So let me inflate the number: $5.00 per year for the building. But paving is endless. Paving is not an asset like that structure is, and you can not have a meeting on it.
Jason: I absolutely understand.
Steve Zelinsky: Nothing this evening.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: Let me say that as far as Meadow Creek and Old Taylor Woods are concerned, based on my experience up there, I fixed a 6" tile, and there was clay all the way down. [Dave described lying flat and reaching the length of his arm down to work on the tile. So--over 30" of clay, and not to the bottom of it?]
I wish there was a way for the township to require the people who build houses and put in roads to do a better road. A road that would hold up in Thornwood would never hold up on the land in Old Taylor Woods. We are going to have the same problem in the next one because the builder will do the same thing again and the county will approve it.
The other thing is that what you are proposing for putting the school on the ballot is a referendum. [Jason objected to that.] Dave continued: It is the equivalent of a referendum. Put a road levy on the ballot--if the people said no, would that mean they did not want roads? Put a road levy on and that would free up money for the school and it would make the roads look good.
To use the school referendum is short sighted and transparent. We [the Mantua Restoration Society] formed to help. Why can we[?] [you?] turn down free money? We can buy the lighting but the trustees would have to do the rest.
Dan Cozzens: You guys are doing a great job on the roads. Keep it up. Just because they [Old Taylor Woods] pay higher taxes does not justify paving their roads first.
About the school: getting your plan together is the smart way to do it. any one would do that with their own house. The ballot issue was just mentioned and not a certain amount of money. You need to know what it will cost and what you are going to do.
Mr. Zula, Skinner Road: You kind of answered some of my concerns in mentioning the big picture. I wondered whether there was a master plan for getting this building renovated. I don't understand why people are rushing.
[Blogger: Mr. Zula does not understand why some of us are "rushing" because he has not seen the twists and turns that have been made in opposing or criticizing the school. First, it was that it taken too long--seven years! It's too long!--and then, with the most recent election, suddenly everything has slowed to a crawl. For example: Cal Brant and Marie Stehli both submitted plans/proposals with cost estimates sometime during the summer. Jason said three years ago that he would work to get us into the school and called a special meeting at the end of May 2012 that ran for about three hours, ostensibly to study getting us into the school. In all that time, no proposals or cost estimates had been made from up front. Once Marie turned in something, then Jason reviewed it and added things to it. That took at least two more weeks. At least.]
[Then, if I remember correctly, Jason asked Vic and John Festa for their input. Vic gave his at the next meeting. John Festa had to study it more and opined as how there was no rush. I think it took him at least a month to get his list together, and it contains things that (a) have been deemed unnecessary or even harmful to the building by experts in the field and (b) will cost thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. So 6 weeks and probably more like two months--at least--have been taken up on that. At this meeting, Vic's desire for a purchase order for the lights--the same lights that Jason has spec'd out in his list--was deflected.]
[Those of us who attend many to all of the meetings know what happened because we saw it for ourselves.]
Vic: When we did the annex we got a price and we came in way low. That freed up money to do other things. The outside work, the outside parking lot, was estimated at $30,000. We did it for $22,000.
Mr. Zula: If there is a plan, the school should be included in it. Why would you be afraid to give us a figure on this? Is there a cost analysis on this?
Vic: You have to understand that the building is split into three different groups--education, business, and assembly. We had a meeting in 2010 and decided to begin with the annex. We had to get to the building department, and they finally accepted it as assembly. [Blogger: That apparently simple thing took a long time and did not occur until there was a new supervisor in the building department.]
Mr. Zula: Can you give a figure?
Vic: Not yet.
Mr. Zula: I am just asking for a figure. If you just did a little here and a little there, you have yourself a money pit.
[Blogger: And there you have the negative buzz words: plan, cost analysis, money pit. Jason is doing a cost analysis now: the big picture. I'm not quite sure why Vic is the one being asked for that prematurely. When Marie analyzed the actual cost per person to that point, about a year and a half ago, her figures were called lies. As far as a master plan is concerned, I am inclined to believe that it would have been subjected to such ferocious Monday morning quarterbacking that it would have looked like confetti--like what was done with Marie's suggestions, but not nearly so gently. Again, my remarks are the result of having attended nearly every meeting for the last 7 years or so--such fun! (Not.) Merely my opinion? It's based on a lot of hours of observing all the jockeying from the back and side of the room.]
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Mantua Township Trustees, December 4, Public Comment
Public Comment began at 8:55 with three people from Remington Point, Old Taylor Woods. [Spelling may be off.] I did not catch the names of the residents, but one of them has come to at least one previous meeting for the same issue. His first name is Bob, and he was the main spokesperson. Because the discussion with the trustees was lengthy, I will try to condense it without losing accuracy and point.
First, Bob thanked John Festa for the work, but said that the home owners are getting out of patience with the condition of the roads. The pothole repairs are not going to last. The question is whether we are going to be on the agenda to get Remington Point repaved. The road is literally falling apart.
Jason explained some things about the costs and specifications for an 18-foot wide road with 4" of asphalt. That describes Pioneer Trail, which cost $180,000 per mile.
Then there was a question about the returned/unused funds mentioned earlier in the meeting. Marie explained that the money reverts to the state, not to the Township.
Jason: When your road was put in, I can not stress enough that beneath the road is all clay, and it is shifting in every direction. I went out with the man who laid the 350 feet of paving there. He said he had never seen such a collection of problems.
The woman from Remington Point asked whether when the road was paved it was approved.
Vic: We dug up there, and I called the engineer's office and was told everything had passed.
Response: I assumed that it was inspected and had been done right.
Jason: Those are county specifications, not the township.
[Blogger: This issue recurs; people in the township, and especially Vic, know the roads and the land they are built on. But the county supersedes the township.]
Question: Are we going to have to live with continually deteriorating roads?
Jason explained that the township has to take care of 37 miles of roads and that the only option for Remington Point would be full depth repair; chip and seal is not possible. If we are chasing our bad roads year after year, the good ones will deteriorate. . . . . We have to balance our budget every year.
One of the three residents pointed out that their road was older than Quail Crest, which had been mentioned earlier. There was a question about whether there was a plan.
Jason: I do not know whether it is feasible to fund paving the road as a whole, full depth. I have talked to Todd Lamb about paving/repairing it in sections. We are trying to put as much asphalt on it as we can afford and put 3 inches on it this year. To do a 3-inch overlay for the whole road would be about $100,000.
Question: How much did it cost to do Quail Crest? Their road looked good compared to ours. We are in probably the highest tax paying development in the township and we are getting the least service. And then when they do it and finish it, they leave stuff at the side of the road.
[Blogger: The comment about taxes may be an example of chickens coming home to roost. I understand that John Festa went to a home owners' association meeting and referred to Old Taylor Woods as the township's premier development and deserving of attention. I was not there; that is what was passed on to me.]
Jason: We can not do this all in one year. You are absolutely on our radar and there are plans to do a larger section of that next year--at least 1/3 of it. I can not say the exact mileage yet.
There was a comment about not seeing why Quail Crest had been microsurfaced.
Jason: We had an expert come in to tell us which roads to work on. Your road is deteriorating twice as fast as it should, faster than we can keep up with. I understand that you pay a lot in property taxes.
The other man who had come asked about whether they would be on the radar in the subsequent seasons if work was done on 1/3 to 1/2 next year, and Jason said yes.
The response to that was that if it were all done in the next three years and progress would be seen, the residents would be happy.
Vic: The county has responsibility for it for one year. This is all overseen by the county. The developer only put in a base coat. They it gets turned over to the township. We have tried not to accept some of these roads, but it can not be done. The county allowed the developer to put a surface on the base and they let him get by with it. The blue clay keeps working up through that. We have removed 2 feet of material at the first cul de sac and then we had to do it again. We laid down 1200 feet of irrigation pipe. You have to get the water out of there before you can pave.
We made an attempt and spent $10,000 to see how that would work. Each year the idea is to do a little and each year keep up what has been done.
Jason: You are priority because of the condition of the road. I can not express enough how unique your road is compared to every other one in the township.
[Note: During part of this discussion, one of the residents pointed out that they vote.]
[Blogger: Well, so much for condensing this part very much. However, the issues are probably similar regardless of whose road it is, and the township often gets blamed for things--or asked to do things--that are outside of its authority. Sometimes that is because another government entity has rank, or sometimes it is because the law does not permit the township to do any more than it may already be doing.]
Mark Hall, Loris Avenue: Where do we stand with Littleton Kirkpatrick? [The contractor who has excellent credentials in dealing with historic buildings.] You [Jason] were going to contact him.
Jason: I have not had a chance to send the packet[s] out. I will do that in the nextr week or so.
Mark: How did the berm work out? Did we save anything or are we getting a credit? [The paving contractor had used a less expensive material than the bid for the berms on the Pioneer Trail paving project.]
Vic: It was only about a $500 credit. Marie: $424.00. They used recycled material instead of limestone.
Mark asked about the 995 phone number, which will stay at Marie's house. There was discussion about that.
Continuing: I do not understand your approach on the lights. They would be the more efficient ones and we need them.
Jason: I want to report to the public that here is the lump sum we are going to spend. I fear that we will piecemeal the project together. I want to see the project as a whole before we start segmenting it off.
Mark: I think I understand somewhat: you are saying is an aggregate cost.
[Blogger: This is about half of public comment and a good place to start. A great deal of what will come next focuses on the school.]
First, Bob thanked John Festa for the work, but said that the home owners are getting out of patience with the condition of the roads. The pothole repairs are not going to last. The question is whether we are going to be on the agenda to get Remington Point repaved. The road is literally falling apart.
Jason explained some things about the costs and specifications for an 18-foot wide road with 4" of asphalt. That describes Pioneer Trail, which cost $180,000 per mile.
Then there was a question about the returned/unused funds mentioned earlier in the meeting. Marie explained that the money reverts to the state, not to the Township.
Jason: When your road was put in, I can not stress enough that beneath the road is all clay, and it is shifting in every direction. I went out with the man who laid the 350 feet of paving there. He said he had never seen such a collection of problems.
The woman from Remington Point asked whether when the road was paved it was approved.
Vic: We dug up there, and I called the engineer's office and was told everything had passed.
Response: I assumed that it was inspected and had been done right.
Jason: Those are county specifications, not the township.
[Blogger: This issue recurs; people in the township, and especially Vic, know the roads and the land they are built on. But the county supersedes the township.]
Question: Are we going to have to live with continually deteriorating roads?
Jason explained that the township has to take care of 37 miles of roads and that the only option for Remington Point would be full depth repair; chip and seal is not possible. If we are chasing our bad roads year after year, the good ones will deteriorate. . . . . We have to balance our budget every year.
One of the three residents pointed out that their road was older than Quail Crest, which had been mentioned earlier. There was a question about whether there was a plan.
Jason: I do not know whether it is feasible to fund paving the road as a whole, full depth. I have talked to Todd Lamb about paving/repairing it in sections. We are trying to put as much asphalt on it as we can afford and put 3 inches on it this year. To do a 3-inch overlay for the whole road would be about $100,000.
Question: How much did it cost to do Quail Crest? Their road looked good compared to ours. We are in probably the highest tax paying development in the township and we are getting the least service. And then when they do it and finish it, they leave stuff at the side of the road.
[Blogger: The comment about taxes may be an example of chickens coming home to roost. I understand that John Festa went to a home owners' association meeting and referred to Old Taylor Woods as the township's premier development and deserving of attention. I was not there; that is what was passed on to me.]
Jason: We can not do this all in one year. You are absolutely on our radar and there are plans to do a larger section of that next year--at least 1/3 of it. I can not say the exact mileage yet.
There was a comment about not seeing why Quail Crest had been microsurfaced.
Jason: We had an expert come in to tell us which roads to work on. Your road is deteriorating twice as fast as it should, faster than we can keep up with. I understand that you pay a lot in property taxes.
The other man who had come asked about whether they would be on the radar in the subsequent seasons if work was done on 1/3 to 1/2 next year, and Jason said yes.
The response to that was that if it were all done in the next three years and progress would be seen, the residents would be happy.
Vic: The county has responsibility for it for one year. This is all overseen by the county. The developer only put in a base coat. They it gets turned over to the township. We have tried not to accept some of these roads, but it can not be done. The county allowed the developer to put a surface on the base and they let him get by with it. The blue clay keeps working up through that. We have removed 2 feet of material at the first cul de sac and then we had to do it again. We laid down 1200 feet of irrigation pipe. You have to get the water out of there before you can pave.
We made an attempt and spent $10,000 to see how that would work. Each year the idea is to do a little and each year keep up what has been done.
Jason: You are priority because of the condition of the road. I can not express enough how unique your road is compared to every other one in the township.
[Note: During part of this discussion, one of the residents pointed out that they vote.]
[Blogger: Well, so much for condensing this part very much. However, the issues are probably similar regardless of whose road it is, and the township often gets blamed for things--or asked to do things--that are outside of its authority. Sometimes that is because another government entity has rank, or sometimes it is because the law does not permit the township to do any more than it may already be doing.]
Mark Hall, Loris Avenue: Where do we stand with Littleton Kirkpatrick? [The contractor who has excellent credentials in dealing with historic buildings.] You [Jason] were going to contact him.
Jason: I have not had a chance to send the packet[s] out. I will do that in the nextr week or so.
Mark: How did the berm work out? Did we save anything or are we getting a credit? [The paving contractor had used a less expensive material than the bid for the berms on the Pioneer Trail paving project.]
Vic: It was only about a $500 credit. Marie: $424.00. They used recycled material instead of limestone.
Mark asked about the 995 phone number, which will stay at Marie's house. There was discussion about that.
Continuing: I do not understand your approach on the lights. They would be the more efficient ones and we need them.
Jason: I want to report to the public that here is the lump sum we are going to spend. I fear that we will piecemeal the project together. I want to see the project as a whole before we start segmenting it off.
Mark: I think I understand somewhat: you are saying is an aggregate cost.
[Blogger: This is about half of public comment and a good place to start. A great deal of what will come next focuses on the school.]
Friday, December 14, 2012
Trustees Reports cont'd, 12-4-12
At 8:22 John Festa began. His first item was about the disagreement with FITA (I think that's correct) over truck repair that the business backed out on, according to John Festa. He has contacted Chris Meduri about it and the trustees and Mr. Meduri may end up meeting about the issue. Jason asked if John Festa had contacted FITA, and the answer was no. He thought that maybe they could meet with Chris.
Then he added this: It cost us $1200 to make the repair. They offered something like $550 and I countered with $700, and they agreed but never sent the payment. They wanted us to take a credit, but I did not want that. [Blogger: I think this may still be the issue about whether part of the bill was to repair something that the service facility had themselves broken, and John Festa objected to that. That may be what this is about.]
Then there was some discussion about the land bank program dealing with blighted properties. The concern was with abandoned or deserted trailers in Robin Park, and there seem to be some squatters.
Jason: We submitted a list of properties on 2 different occasions. Regional Planning is going to be administering the land bank funds. Usually Regional Planning contacts us and tells us what our next step would be. The trailers are owned by the residents, but the land is owned by the trailer park.
John Festa thought that probably nothing could be done by RP because of the land ownership issue. If RP could expedite the paper work, that would make a difference.
Jason suggested calling Todd Peetz, Regional Planning.
At 8:27, Vic asked about the Force account (roads) and passed some paperwork to Marie and the other trustees. He offered to let Marie explain it.
The budget for the project was $672,800, and we were going to be paying $261,000 plus a bit.
Jason explained that this was the Pioneer Trail and Loris Avenue project.
Marie said that a check had been written for the project which she thought covered everything, but then we got a billing from Perrine Asphalt because they had omitted something.
Our total came to $202,457.44. The grant money will be dispersed to Perrine Asphalt.
Marie said that what she wanted to bring out is that when we completed the contract, we only spent $303,000, which is less than budgeted. $101,013.14 was turned back. This is the most we have ever turned back, and we have always turned money back. The total cost of the project was $505,000 +.
Vic then raised the need to set aside $325 for cleaning supplies for for all the buildings for the coming year.
He also wanted to set aside money for the lights for all three rooms in the school building. Those lights plus the ones in the hallway--now required by code [I believe] and more efficient than the older lights--come to $989.97. That was quoted in August, and the contractor will hold the prices. This would provide lights for the west room, the copy room, the little office, and the hallway.
If the whole first floor was done, the cost would be $2,244.03, including light bulbs.
John Festa: What kind of lights?
Vic: T-8 fluorescents. I am trying to get together with Ohio Edison to see if there is a rebate program. He showed a diagram and explained how the lighting is handled now. [Vic has mentioned the lights several times now, and has always said that the new ones have to be T-8s.]
John Festa asked about the energy rating.
Vic said that the estimate is based on someone coming out and evaluating the rooms.
John Festa asked if we had ever had an evaluation done on the electric.
Vic: We are looking at $4,000-$5,000 to have someone come out. We can do a lot of that ourselves. Just for him to try to help us, we are looking at $600-$700.
John Festa: I know our use is significant. I would like to take a little time to study it.
Vic: I would like to get a purchase order so we can get started and install these lights. You are looking at about $1,000 to begin.
John Festa: I would like to take a little more time to evaluate. Our electrical costs are phenomenal.
Vic: You are going to have to go to T-8 bulbs no matter what. They are the most efficient today other than LED's, and those are very expensive.
I would like to see us put in a purchase order for Gatto Electric so we have something to work with.
Jason: The only angle I am looking at is the big picture. I have compiled our lists from the last meeting. I want to see where we are in the big picture before we start segmenting it. We are going to have to do this eventually but I am going to have to see this in the big picture first. [Blogger: Eh?]
[It died there for no real reason that I can see, although I can certainly see the footwork.]
Old Business
John Festa said that the road crew had dug in front of the Township Hall and installed a drainage pipe and the window well, using paving stones that we had. We are still waiting for downspouts but are running up against the clock. So I guess we are ready to move on to whatever the next step is for this building.
[Blogger's emphasis.]
Jason: The main goal is to paint the Town Hall, but the drainage was a big concern.. I think we need to get some professionals' opinions about the ventilation. Every opinion we have gotten is a different one. Whatever we do we will not know what the results are for 5-10 years. [Blogger's emphasis.]
John Festa, trailer updates. The trailers are gone, you did everything you said you would, Dave.
Dave Pollard said that the ground where the trailers had been turns to mush with as little as 1/10 inch of rain and explained about the next steps of leveling and seeding in the spring. The trailers were sitting on concrete piers. Some are close to the surface, but there is no sense trying to work the ground now. I have to take my sign away and will probably do that tomorrow. [Dave had put up a sign explaining about the work being done to remove the trailers, which he had purchased from the township.]
Jason asked about the status of the soft ball practice in the gym. Vic said nothing more had come of that.
Jason continued, saying that he had the packet together [for bids] and needs to send it out.
John Festa added, I am also working on estimates on cost analysis and will have the report for the trustees for the next meeting. He mentioned the cupola on the school and the possibility of going up into it with "the guys."
He also asked health insurance and whether Dan is covered. Marie replied that we are paying on him and that she thought his insurance kicked in about the time the quote came out.
The new phone number (JF asked) is 330-274-8443. He also asked what was being done about the old 995 number. Marie explained that she was going to let it run because it just came into the phone book. She planned on keeping it and paying for it herself.
[Gee--do you think that if there had not been such glacially slow progress on the school--after all, there was a 'problem solving' meeting about it on May 31--that maybe we could have had just one phone number and Marie wouldn't be paying for it out of her own pocket?]
She pointed out that since it is in her house, she can not have the Township pay for it.
Public Comment began at 8:55; this is a good point to end this post.
Then he added this: It cost us $1200 to make the repair. They offered something like $550 and I countered with $700, and they agreed but never sent the payment. They wanted us to take a credit, but I did not want that. [Blogger: I think this may still be the issue about whether part of the bill was to repair something that the service facility had themselves broken, and John Festa objected to that. That may be what this is about.]
Then there was some discussion about the land bank program dealing with blighted properties. The concern was with abandoned or deserted trailers in Robin Park, and there seem to be some squatters.
Jason: We submitted a list of properties on 2 different occasions. Regional Planning is going to be administering the land bank funds. Usually Regional Planning contacts us and tells us what our next step would be. The trailers are owned by the residents, but the land is owned by the trailer park.
John Festa thought that probably nothing could be done by RP because of the land ownership issue. If RP could expedite the paper work, that would make a difference.
Jason suggested calling Todd Peetz, Regional Planning.
At 8:27, Vic asked about the Force account (roads) and passed some paperwork to Marie and the other trustees. He offered to let Marie explain it.
The budget for the project was $672,800, and we were going to be paying $261,000 plus a bit.
Jason explained that this was the Pioneer Trail and Loris Avenue project.
Marie said that a check had been written for the project which she thought covered everything, but then we got a billing from Perrine Asphalt because they had omitted something.
Our total came to $202,457.44. The grant money will be dispersed to Perrine Asphalt.
Marie said that what she wanted to bring out is that when we completed the contract, we only spent $303,000, which is less than budgeted. $101,013.14 was turned back. This is the most we have ever turned back, and we have always turned money back. The total cost of the project was $505,000 +.
Vic then raised the need to set aside $325 for cleaning supplies for for all the buildings for the coming year.
He also wanted to set aside money for the lights for all three rooms in the school building. Those lights plus the ones in the hallway--now required by code [I believe] and more efficient than the older lights--come to $989.97. That was quoted in August, and the contractor will hold the prices. This would provide lights for the west room, the copy room, the little office, and the hallway.
If the whole first floor was done, the cost would be $2,244.03, including light bulbs.
John Festa: What kind of lights?
Vic: T-8 fluorescents. I am trying to get together with Ohio Edison to see if there is a rebate program. He showed a diagram and explained how the lighting is handled now. [Vic has mentioned the lights several times now, and has always said that the new ones have to be T-8s.]
John Festa asked about the energy rating.
Vic said that the estimate is based on someone coming out and evaluating the rooms.
John Festa asked if we had ever had an evaluation done on the electric.
Vic: We are looking at $4,000-$5,000 to have someone come out. We can do a lot of that ourselves. Just for him to try to help us, we are looking at $600-$700.
John Festa: I know our use is significant. I would like to take a little time to study it.
Vic: I would like to get a purchase order so we can get started and install these lights. You are looking at about $1,000 to begin.
John Festa: I would like to take a little more time to evaluate. Our electrical costs are phenomenal.
Vic: You are going to have to go to T-8 bulbs no matter what. They are the most efficient today other than LED's, and those are very expensive.
I would like to see us put in a purchase order for Gatto Electric so we have something to work with.
Jason: The only angle I am looking at is the big picture. I have compiled our lists from the last meeting. I want to see where we are in the big picture before we start segmenting it. We are going to have to do this eventually but I am going to have to see this in the big picture first. [Blogger: Eh?]
[It died there for no real reason that I can see, although I can certainly see the footwork.]
Old Business
John Festa said that the road crew had dug in front of the Township Hall and installed a drainage pipe and the window well, using paving stones that we had. We are still waiting for downspouts but are running up against the clock. So I guess we are ready to move on to whatever the next step is for this building.
[Blogger's emphasis.]
Jason: The main goal is to paint the Town Hall, but the drainage was a big concern.. I think we need to get some professionals' opinions about the ventilation. Every opinion we have gotten is a different one. Whatever we do we will not know what the results are for 5-10 years. [Blogger's emphasis.]
John Festa, trailer updates. The trailers are gone, you did everything you said you would, Dave.
Dave Pollard said that the ground where the trailers had been turns to mush with as little as 1/10 inch of rain and explained about the next steps of leveling and seeding in the spring. The trailers were sitting on concrete piers. Some are close to the surface, but there is no sense trying to work the ground now. I have to take my sign away and will probably do that tomorrow. [Dave had put up a sign explaining about the work being done to remove the trailers, which he had purchased from the township.]
Jason asked about the status of the soft ball practice in the gym. Vic said nothing more had come of that.
Jason continued, saying that he had the packet together [for bids] and needs to send it out.
John Festa added, I am also working on estimates on cost analysis and will have the report for the trustees for the next meeting. He mentioned the cupola on the school and the possibility of going up into it with "the guys."
He also asked health insurance and whether Dan is covered. Marie replied that we are paying on him and that she thought his insurance kicked in about the time the quote came out.
The new phone number (JF asked) is 330-274-8443. He also asked what was being done about the old 995 number. Marie explained that she was going to let it run because it just came into the phone book. She planned on keeping it and paying for it herself.
[Gee--do you think that if there had not been such glacially slow progress on the school--after all, there was a 'problem solving' meeting about it on May 31--that maybe we could have had just one phone number and Marie wouldn't be paying for it out of her own pocket?]
She pointed out that since it is in her house, she can not have the Township pay for it.
Public Comment began at 8:55; this is a good point to end this post.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Mantua Township Trustees 12-4-12
After the Zoning Inspector and cemetery reports, Jason reported on the road crew's activities. A main ditch that drains Aurora Meadows is being cleaned out. Part of it is on Dick Bonner's property, and his crew will do the rest of it.
The road crew/department also has a list of equipment that can be sold because the Township no longer needs the items.
Another piece of equipment is a 1988 grader, which Brian Tayerle estimates went out for a total of about 12 hours this year to do work on Old Frost Road and a few other things. That little usage for less than 20 hours makes it more cost effective to hire someone to do this kind of work. It is probably worth about $30,000.
John Festa asked whether we had put tires on it this year and who a typical customer would be.
Jason stated that it has been inside all its life and has low hours of use. If we sold it, we could probably afford to buy something we could use.
[Note: My understanding is that the grader has been inside all its life until now, but it is now sitting outside. Earlier in the year when it was used to do work on Old Frost Road, there was some question about whether the scarifiers had been deployed correctly, because the road was still rough or had re-roughened very quickly after the work had been done.]
John Festa asked about using it as a trade, and Jason replied that he would have to check the ORC, since we usually buy things on the state bid program. He asked Vic about that, and although the reply was a little difficult to hear, I think the answer was that the state had purchased the backhoe back from us.
More on equipment: The frame is damaged on the street broom, and it has been sitting out.
Vic: How did it get bent?
Jason: It slipped off the road into the ditch during mowing and got bent. [There have been two such off-road events into ditches this year.]
Concerning the truck bed, Jason was of the opinion that if we could get $300-$350 for it as scrap, we should do that. There was also some discussion about sealed bids, and Jason asked if there was anything else.
Vic: We may have a contact for the ditching head from someone who can use it for parts. The value before there was a problem with it was about $1500. Jason estimated the current value at about half that and thought it could be advertised in the Ohio Townships Association magazine.
Marie commented that townships south of here have a lot of dirt roads.
Jason thought we could advertise the truck bed, sweeper broom, and ditching head for sealed bids. He also said that he wanted to make it clear that the Township was no longer using this equipment and that bids should come back by December 20. He made a motion to advertise as stated. Dave Pollard asked a question about the design and how it is used. John Festa seconded the motion to advertise; unanimous.
Club and Committee Reports
Garden Club: Sue Skrovan reported that their Christmas potluck dinner will be at the Township hall on 12/19, the regular night. She said that the Garden Club wanted to thank everyone who helped because everything that is given to them goes back to the community. That is what we strive for, Sue said--to give back to the community. She said they would be working on their plans for 2013.
No one from the Ladies Cemetery Association was present to report.
New Business, Trustees Reports, Announcements
There was discussion about grave depths in the cemetery because some questions had come up about that topic. The standard depth, or assumed depth, is about 5-1/2 feet.
Vic: Years ago I checked on this, and most people said the depth should be just about a shovel length. A problem here is a lot of the graves seem to be about 4-1/2 feet. He gave some details about how the amount of dirt on top of the vault made a difference in whether grass above a vault could grow in a dry year. He thought that 52"-54" should satisfy the requirements.
Jason described the difficulties that arise when the grave depths are not equal and family members are buried next to each other, and he wanted some kind of standard so that the bottoms of the graves could be on the same level.
Marie pointed out that sometimes there is a vault but then ashes are placed on top of it, and that possibility has to be accounted for. There was more discussion about the depths, and finally Jason made a motion to have a standard of 52"-58" for full burials. This will supersede any prior resolutions. John Festa seconded. Unanimous.
Zoning Commission Terms
At the spring All Boards meeting a year ago, the trustees made a motion to advertise for applicants when a zoning commission member's term was expiring. In the past, if a member's term was expiring but the member wanted to stay on, s/he notified the trustees and was simply reappointed.
Jason listed the members whose terms were expiring and asked to advertise for the openings, with applicants filing by the next meeting and members who wanted to be reappointed doing the same.
Marie said she had sent letters to members whose terms are expiring but had not heard anything back yet.
Joy Brunetti (member) and Nick Ehlert (alternate) both have expiring terms. The terms are 5 years long.
Jason said that anyone interested should send a letter to Marie Stehli, and there will be an advertisement with further details.
Tree Removal
A tree on Pioneer Trail needs to be removed because it is partly eaten out. Enterprise and Yarnell both submitted quotes, with Enterprise bidding $400, pending insurance proof, and Yarnell bidding $850 to remove the tree and $95 to grind the stump. Jason moved to contract with Enterprise for the work, seconded by John Festa. Unanimous.
Jason's report ended here, at about 8:20.
.
The road crew/department also has a list of equipment that can be sold because the Township no longer needs the items.
- Steel culvert pipe
- The old truck bed
- Two attachments for the tractor
Another piece of equipment is a 1988 grader, which Brian Tayerle estimates went out for a total of about 12 hours this year to do work on Old Frost Road and a few other things. That little usage for less than 20 hours makes it more cost effective to hire someone to do this kind of work. It is probably worth about $30,000.
John Festa asked whether we had put tires on it this year and who a typical customer would be.
Jason stated that it has been inside all its life and has low hours of use. If we sold it, we could probably afford to buy something we could use.
[Note: My understanding is that the grader has been inside all its life until now, but it is now sitting outside. Earlier in the year when it was used to do work on Old Frost Road, there was some question about whether the scarifiers had been deployed correctly, because the road was still rough or had re-roughened very quickly after the work had been done.]
John Festa asked about using it as a trade, and Jason replied that he would have to check the ORC, since we usually buy things on the state bid program. He asked Vic about that, and although the reply was a little difficult to hear, I think the answer was that the state had purchased the backhoe back from us.
More on equipment: The frame is damaged on the street broom, and it has been sitting out.
Vic: How did it get bent?
Jason: It slipped off the road into the ditch during mowing and got bent. [There have been two such off-road events into ditches this year.]
Concerning the truck bed, Jason was of the opinion that if we could get $300-$350 for it as scrap, we should do that. There was also some discussion about sealed bids, and Jason asked if there was anything else.
Vic: We may have a contact for the ditching head from someone who can use it for parts. The value before there was a problem with it was about $1500. Jason estimated the current value at about half that and thought it could be advertised in the Ohio Townships Association magazine.
Marie commented that townships south of here have a lot of dirt roads.
Jason thought we could advertise the truck bed, sweeper broom, and ditching head for sealed bids. He also said that he wanted to make it clear that the Township was no longer using this equipment and that bids should come back by December 20. He made a motion to advertise as stated. Dave Pollard asked a question about the design and how it is used. John Festa seconded the motion to advertise; unanimous.
Club and Committee Reports
Garden Club: Sue Skrovan reported that their Christmas potluck dinner will be at the Township hall on 12/19, the regular night. She said that the Garden Club wanted to thank everyone who helped because everything that is given to them goes back to the community. That is what we strive for, Sue said--to give back to the community. She said they would be working on their plans for 2013.
No one from the Ladies Cemetery Association was present to report.
New Business, Trustees Reports, Announcements
There was discussion about grave depths in the cemetery because some questions had come up about that topic. The standard depth, or assumed depth, is about 5-1/2 feet.
Vic: Years ago I checked on this, and most people said the depth should be just about a shovel length. A problem here is a lot of the graves seem to be about 4-1/2 feet. He gave some details about how the amount of dirt on top of the vault made a difference in whether grass above a vault could grow in a dry year. He thought that 52"-54" should satisfy the requirements.
Jason described the difficulties that arise when the grave depths are not equal and family members are buried next to each other, and he wanted some kind of standard so that the bottoms of the graves could be on the same level.
Marie pointed out that sometimes there is a vault but then ashes are placed on top of it, and that possibility has to be accounted for. There was more discussion about the depths, and finally Jason made a motion to have a standard of 52"-58" for full burials. This will supersede any prior resolutions. John Festa seconded. Unanimous.
Zoning Commission Terms
At the spring All Boards meeting a year ago, the trustees made a motion to advertise for applicants when a zoning commission member's term was expiring. In the past, if a member's term was expiring but the member wanted to stay on, s/he notified the trustees and was simply reappointed.
Jason listed the members whose terms were expiring and asked to advertise for the openings, with applicants filing by the next meeting and members who wanted to be reappointed doing the same.
Marie said she had sent letters to members whose terms are expiring but had not heard anything back yet.
Joy Brunetti (member) and Nick Ehlert (alternate) both have expiring terms. The terms are 5 years long.
Jason said that anyone interested should send a letter to Marie Stehli, and there will be an advertisement with further details.
Tree Removal
A tree on Pioneer Trail needs to be removed because it is partly eaten out. Enterprise and Yarnell both submitted quotes, with Enterprise bidding $400, pending insurance proof, and Yarnell bidding $850 to remove the tree and $95 to grind the stump. Jason moved to contract with Enterprise for the work, seconded by John Festa. Unanimous.
Jason's report ended here, at about 8:20.
.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Mantua Twp. Trustees December 4, 2012
Foreword: In one of the previous posts about the school, I referred to cost that would be given later. The only work for which I had a cost was for the NOPEC grant. That was actually no cost to the Township. It was a grant for energy saving proposals for up to $50,000. I don't remember what the whole pot was that NOPEC was dealing out, but I do remember that if all of it were not requested on the first round, then a second round of applications would be opened up. All was requested in the first round--a measure of the circumstances that small governments were in at that point. They are still in tight circumstances.
Most grants require that recipients match a certain percentage and if appropriate file a plan for maintaining the improvements, repairs, renovation--whatever--that the grant will pay for. This grant was a 100% no-match grant.
The work done is listed in the previous post(s) about work done in the school.
And now to the December 4 meeting. There were actually two. The first was a special meeting called for 7 p.m. for the trustees' public hearing of the revisions to the portions of the zoning book dealing with home-based businesses. There was a little discussion between the trustees and Lynn Harvey, Zoning Commission chair person. No one offered anything during public comment on that topic, and the revisions were accepted by motion and unanimous vote. That meeting adjourned about 7:15.
Since the regular meeting start time is 7:30, the trustees took advantage of the interval to sign the bills, which is usually done between the end of business and adjournment. The regular meeting was called to order at 7:30p.m.
The specific numbers of the fiscal officer's report can be gotten by requesting the official minutes of the meeting.
Marie reminded the trustees that the first meeting in January each year is actually three meetings: end of year, beginning of year, and the regular meeting. Since the first Thursday of January is January 3, she inquired about trading with Zoning in order for her to get everything pulled together well. The trade was OK with Lynn.
So the schedule for trustees' meetings in January is January 10 at 7p.m. (note time) for the end of year meeting, going without interval to beginning of year and then the regular meeting. Jason pointed out that the next regularly scheduled trustees meeting in January would be January 17, but there are five Thursdays that month, which eases the pace a little.
The meeting change will be advertised, and zoning will advertise the change of its own meeting.
Marie also said that she wanted the business functions for 2012 to cut off on December 20 so she could get everything in order for the end of the year.
The zoning/cemetery activities for the previous month totaled $1,064.00.
Marie also goes through a list of the correspondence at the beginning of each meeting. One of the items in this packet dealt with historic preservation. It should not surprise you that it had been submitted by me, your faithful blogger. The more research I do in The Mantua Restoration Society's efforts to be sure that we keep the school, the more I find about the role and value of historic preservation. The item Marie mentioned was two photocopied pages from a manual on filing an application for the Ohio Historic Inventory. I thought it would be useful and perhaps even encouraging for the trustees to have it. I am not going to try to put all of it in the blog, but here are some excerpts from those two pages.
"Ohioans now recognize their state's physical heritage--its landmark buildings, neighborhoods, and rural landscapes--as a major cultural and economic asset rather than just a nostalgic reminder of antiquity. . . . Tourism has emerged as a billion dollar industry in the Buckeye State; among Ohio travelers, historical attractions rank as the number one preference of group tours.
"Historic properties are frequently the best tangible evidence of a community's history and special character. . . . .Whether urban, suburban, or rural, each community can find its own special identity in a residence, shop, skyscraper, factory, farm, or commercial district. Thus, the character of the community is enriched by whatever it conserves for the future." (p.9)
"Since 1974, more than 75,000 historic properties in Ohio have been recorded on the OHI. Despite this impressive figure, a substantial number of Ohio's architecturally and historically important properties have not been systematically documented. Such noteworthy types of properties as barns, farm outbuildings, designed landscapes, and industrial complexes have, for the most part, been largely overlooked. Moreover, large groups of buildings dating to the second quarter of the 20th century have only recently been recognized for their contributions to our nation's istory. All of these need to be documented." (p. 10)
Source: pp. 9 and 10, How to Complete the Ohio Historic Inventory, by Stephen C. Gordon.
Ohio Historic Preservation Office, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio. 1992.
Most grants require that recipients match a certain percentage and if appropriate file a plan for maintaining the improvements, repairs, renovation--whatever--that the grant will pay for. This grant was a 100% no-match grant.
The work done is listed in the previous post(s) about work done in the school.
And now to the December 4 meeting. There were actually two. The first was a special meeting called for 7 p.m. for the trustees' public hearing of the revisions to the portions of the zoning book dealing with home-based businesses. There was a little discussion between the trustees and Lynn Harvey, Zoning Commission chair person. No one offered anything during public comment on that topic, and the revisions were accepted by motion and unanimous vote. That meeting adjourned about 7:15.
Since the regular meeting start time is 7:30, the trustees took advantage of the interval to sign the bills, which is usually done between the end of business and adjournment. The regular meeting was called to order at 7:30p.m.
The specific numbers of the fiscal officer's report can be gotten by requesting the official minutes of the meeting.
Marie reminded the trustees that the first meeting in January each year is actually three meetings: end of year, beginning of year, and the regular meeting. Since the first Thursday of January is January 3, she inquired about trading with Zoning in order for her to get everything pulled together well. The trade was OK with Lynn.
So the schedule for trustees' meetings in January is January 10 at 7p.m. (note time) for the end of year meeting, going without interval to beginning of year and then the regular meeting. Jason pointed out that the next regularly scheduled trustees meeting in January would be January 17, but there are five Thursdays that month, which eases the pace a little.
The meeting change will be advertised, and zoning will advertise the change of its own meeting.
Marie also said that she wanted the business functions for 2012 to cut off on December 20 so she could get everything in order for the end of the year.
The zoning/cemetery activities for the previous month totaled $1,064.00.
Marie also goes through a list of the correspondence at the beginning of each meeting. One of the items in this packet dealt with historic preservation. It should not surprise you that it had been submitted by me, your faithful blogger. The more research I do in The Mantua Restoration Society's efforts to be sure that we keep the school, the more I find about the role and value of historic preservation. The item Marie mentioned was two photocopied pages from a manual on filing an application for the Ohio Historic Inventory. I thought it would be useful and perhaps even encouraging for the trustees to have it. I am not going to try to put all of it in the blog, but here are some excerpts from those two pages.
"Ohioans now recognize their state's physical heritage--its landmark buildings, neighborhoods, and rural landscapes--as a major cultural and economic asset rather than just a nostalgic reminder of antiquity. . . . Tourism has emerged as a billion dollar industry in the Buckeye State; among Ohio travelers, historical attractions rank as the number one preference of group tours.
"Historic properties are frequently the best tangible evidence of a community's history and special character. . . . .Whether urban, suburban, or rural, each community can find its own special identity in a residence, shop, skyscraper, factory, farm, or commercial district. Thus, the character of the community is enriched by whatever it conserves for the future." (p.9)
"Since 1974, more than 75,000 historic properties in Ohio have been recorded on the OHI. Despite this impressive figure, a substantial number of Ohio's architecturally and historically important properties have not been systematically documented. Such noteworthy types of properties as barns, farm outbuildings, designed landscapes, and industrial complexes have, for the most part, been largely overlooked. Moreover, large groups of buildings dating to the second quarter of the 20th century have only recently been recognized for their contributions to our nation's istory. All of these need to be documented." (p. 10)
Source: pp. 9 and 10, How to Complete the Ohio Historic Inventory, by Stephen C. Gordon.
Ohio Historic Preservation Office, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio. 1992.
Friday, December 7, 2012
Completed Work, Mantua Center School
[Blogger Foreword: The following list was compiled during the late spring of 2012 and handed to each trustee at the end of the May 31, 2012 special meeting to discuss the school. That meeting was billed as a problem solving activity, but in fact what got discussed was not how to get into the school--which would have been a discussion of the problem--but a discussion of the situation of the school. Things have not progressed much beyond that. The obstructions that have been thrown up are contained in the blog posts. The May 31 meeting is given in as close to a transcript as I can manage, if anyone cares either to review it or read it for the first time.]
[Note: This will be a long post; I saw no reason to split up the amount that has been done--which is extensive.]
Completed Work, Mantua Center School
Because dollar amounts for the work done would entail large records requests, the only cost of work done is for the NOPEC grant. [This information is in a third piece of this compilation.]
The work listed was noted in a walk-through of the main, basement, and gymnasium floors. The walk-through began at the original entrance.
Grants were used wherever possible, and for four years, 2005 through 2009, the township had three trustees who did actual work in the building as part of their service, in addition to working closely and cooperatively with the Fiscal Officer to keep costs as low as possible. Only Vic Grimm is continuing, as he began and always has.
At present, the bogeyman of hazardous materials having been buried (we can hope it stays buried), someone has been recruited to cast doubts on the soundness of the building. (At least, it looks to me like the result of having been recruited.) I find it hard to believe that the Portage County Building Department would have given the Township the OK to begin using the building if it were unsafe. The legal and public relations repercussions of such negligence are too great.
However, facts and informed, expert opinion have been treated like ants at a picnic by the opponents of the building.]
[Note: This will be a long post; I saw no reason to split up the amount that has been done--which is extensive.]
Completed Work, Mantua Center School
Because dollar amounts for the work done would entail large records requests, the only cost of work done is for the NOPEC grant. [This information is in a third piece of this compilation.]
The work listed was noted in a walk-through of the main, basement, and gymnasium floors. The walk-through began at the original entrance.
- Entrance door and transom paid for by NOPEC
- New interior doors, gymnasium level:
- Entrance into hallway
- Kitchen door
- Basement boiler room door
- Double door entry into the gymnasium
- Boiler room door on the back of the building
- West exit door in hallway outside gymnasium
- The door at the [code-required] ramp on the northeast corner
- Note: All metal doors are fire rated.
- 14 glass block windows in the gymnasium, 4 with venting
- 3 glass block windows in the hallway, all vented
- New interior brick around the glass block windows, and new brickwork on the outside.
- Note: The original windows were very large and a security issue. After the glass block was installed, the surrounding voids were bricked in.
- The glass block windows have made the building cooler and warmer as appropriate, and the vents let cool air in and cross-ventilate the annex.
- New doors on the women's and men's restrooms in the gymnasium hallway
- New ADA toilet stalls in the men's and women's restrooms in gym hallway. The partitions and sink(s) are new. "ADA" here means wheelchair accessible size.
- A wheelchair accessible sink and faucet in the men's room; all new urinals
- The entry to the men's room has been reworked; various impediments have been removed to permit wheelchair entry.
- Lights in the restrooms are brand new and energy efficient.
- The entrance section of the floor in the men's restroom has been re-tiled.
- Women's restroom---one ADA toilet installed; all new partitions
- Sinks, faucets, and soap dispensers are all new.
- The gymnasium hallway ceiling was tested for asbestos, which was removed properly. The lighting is new, and exit signs were installed.
- The ceiling tile is fire rated.
- Note: The original building's floors are concrete slabs; the ceiling of one room is the floor of the room above it, with narrow wood planking laid on the floors as cushioning. In all of the classrooms in the 1914 building, the ceilings [appear to be] naked concrete--no asbestos.
- The gymnasium boilers are new, paid for by NOPEC.
- Two new water heaters were installed in the kitchen.
- The sink was rewelded and polished. A new drain and new garbage disposal were installed.
- The range, dishwasher, and garbage disposal area was all rewired to meet new codes.
- GFI protection was updated in the kitchen.
- All galvanized pipes were removed and replaced with plastic.
- Three new doors in the basement
- The fire escape door in one basement classroom is new.
- The lights in the basement classrooms are high efficiency.
- New restrooms for pre-school or other use
- East side basement classroom has new high efficiency lights and new electrical service.
- East side basement classroom has new high efficiency lights and new electrical service.
- New wall installed in north basement classroom
- For the reading room/tutoring room in the basement classroom, a door was removed and relocated.
- A door on the teachers' lounge in the basement was removed and relocated.
- Teachers' bathroom: sink rehung and new parts installed in the toilet.
- New stainless steel double-basin sink and counter top and cupboard installed
- Provision made for a refrigerator
- Lighting is new.
- Lighting in the hallway is new and energy efficient.
- New lighting in the stairwells from the basement
- Janitor's room in the basement: all new lights and ceiling
- Plank floor pulled up and new stringers installed to level the floor.
- Glass block windows two blocks high installed in janitor's room
- New concrete block installed to replace large windows for security and energy efficiency
- Mechanical room--new hot water tank and new air compressor, replumbed correctly
- Note: The ductwork for the exhaust to the chimney needs to be replaced. Cost will be $5,000.
- The well system and pump have been rewired.
- All piping from the hot water tank has been insulated. The pipes had not been insulated before.
- Outside, on the north side, the exterior ramp and door are new; so are the steps and pad.
- New chimney; a flue liner (lacking in the old chimney) was installed.
- At the gymnasium entrance, 4 additional glass block windows with vents, finished inside and out, were installed by Mike Richards and bricked up around the glass block for safety and security.
- The area outside the gymnasium door was paved according to ADA specifications for handicapped parking; one space was required, but a second one was installed to facilitate voting because there was room for it.
- Striping and hard surfacing were installed before the November 2011 election.
- Once the Portage County Building Department, upon the departure of Mr. Ishihara, agreed that the gymnasium did not represent a change of use as assembly, work could begin on that part of the building.
- The hardest use to bring up to code was education, and that was where work started, intended for use by a pre-school. The trustees wanted to keep education with the building because it had always been a school. [Note: The trustees noted here were those in office before the 2009 election.]
- For the Township offices and records, used file cabinets in good condition were purchased, and some came from the Mantua Village Fire Department when the MSFD building was completed.
- On the northeast corner of the building, during work to install the ramp that was required by the Portage County Building Department, a soft muddy area was found. That was dug out, a footer was poured for the ramp and pad, and all was pressure washed.
- Note: Gossip had been claiming that area indicated a structural defect in the building. During the above work, no cracks or other structural damage was found. The wall was waterproofed and insulated, the ramp was built, and the area was backfilled.
- The ramp was added on the second set of blueprints as an accessibility issue. Somewhere in the Ohio Building Code there is a statement that for accessibility there must be a ramp into the building.
Grants were used wherever possible, and for four years, 2005 through 2009, the township had three trustees who did actual work in the building as part of their service, in addition to working closely and cooperatively with the Fiscal Officer to keep costs as low as possible. Only Vic Grimm is continuing, as he began and always has.
At present, the bogeyman of hazardous materials having been buried (we can hope it stays buried), someone has been recruited to cast doubts on the soundness of the building. (At least, it looks to me like the result of having been recruited.) I find it hard to believe that the Portage County Building Department would have given the Township the OK to begin using the building if it were unsafe. The legal and public relations repercussions of such negligence are too great.
However, facts and informed, expert opinion have been treated like ants at a picnic by the opponents of the building.]
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