Trustees' Reports, continued:
John Festa: I am just waiting on a couple more things on our inventory. Some of them are at John Vechery's house.
Vic: I talked to Terri Vechery about it.
John Festa: I would like to get this done.
Vic: I want to get it done also and I will check off the information against my list.
John Festa: [I have taken] a two-hour safety seminar at the Bureau of Workers' Compensation. I am waiting for the inspector to call me with some tips about how we can lower our premiums. I guess we took that because someone filed a claim.
Marie: I am not aware of that. It would probably be a good idea if the person who filed it would let us know.
John Festa: I will check on that. I am hearing and have seen some things on a website that some lots have been purchased at LaDue Reserve.
Jason thought that the business had purchased all of them.
John Festa: That would be good for our community. Their website has John Vechery's address on it--I will call them about that. Continuing: The county engineer's website has been updated with new phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
Marie: I do not want it [e-mail, I believe--blogger] and asked Brent Simon about deactivating the Township e-mail because I can't get on it.
Jason asked if Marie wanted some training on it. Answer: "No. Just 3-4 more hours in a day."
John Festa: I would like to get the last two employees in for evaluation. I don't know how to do that--do we have a protocol? [Blogger: These two employees are Sue Skrovan and Rhetta Hall, who clean the Civic Center and the Township Hall, respectively, and Sue schedules for the Civic Center. The positions were advertised some years ago; Sue and Rhetta applied and were hired; since then, the clean condition of the buildings has vouched for their work.]
Jason: I would say just set aside some time and propose a date and give them a call. Set something up.
[Blogger: Sue was at the meeting; I do not know if John Festa set up the meeting then.]
John Festa: It does not have to be right away, but I thought it would be good to have everybody on the same page.
Vic: [Regarding the Land Bank]: Randy Roberts (Portage County Building Department Head) called me up and did his inspections on the four sites.
Jason added that they have to have them done by Tuesday, so they have probably gone out.
Vic: Everything for zoning or the cemetery has been going to John Vechery's address, including veterans. We do not receive mail at the gymnasium area right now. What about getting a P.O. box in Mantua for Jim Aldrich and Tierney Bryant? They could have a couple of keys and pick up the mail there. The box would cost $56 per year for a standard P.O. box.
John Festa wanted to know why not a box for each.
Vic: Each person can have a key. We can get three keys.
Jason suggested setting aside $100 to get a box.
Vic: The other thing is about recycling [this is old business.] Last Saturday the Portage County Township Association dinner was held in Paris Township. Tom Smith spoke about this--the first book on the desk [disk?] about this issue is 300 pages. The revised plan is close to 300 pages. They have looked at privatizing part of it [the recycling.]
[Vic reported that] Bill Steiner [who runs the recycling center] took questions, and some were heated. Janet Esposito confirmed that the recycling plant does make money and will be paid off next year.
Vic, continuing: The EPA mandates that Portage County have a recycling program and it has been in place for years. There are grants available to update the trucks and equipment, so that what is paid to get them can be less than what the cost is. They are looking for the townships to ratify keeping the recycling center in the county.
The biggest contributor to recycling is Kent State. Portage County is not going to try to sell materials and watch the market to try to get the best price. They want to keep the tire program and the chipper program in place.
Vic: The thing I don't like [about privatizing or sending this program out of the county] is the money that would now go to some other county.
Marie: There is a practice of the outside contractors having low fees for a few years, equipment is sold off, and then the fees go up.
Vic, continuing to report on the meeting: Eight to ten people are/were on the panels. Dwayne Porter (Portage County Health Department Head) said that they do the policing on the tonnage, and that brings in $95,000 to the Health Department.
Continuing: The larger cities and some villages would like to go out on their own. It needs to be done by March 22. If the townships do not decide, it goes to the EPA and it will decide what will happen for the next 5 years.
If we vote on it that will be a yes but if we do not vote, it will be a no. No one knows what the EPA has in mind.
Marie: If you fail to vote it is considered a "no" vote. March 22 is the day after the second Trustees meeting in March.
John Festa: I didn't see anything wrong with the proposal.
Vic: They wanted something about privatizing in the future, and that is in there--there are options in there. Villages and cities can go out and privatize. The other thing they will seriously look at is what is called the tipping fee. They will try to lower that fee now that they are going to go to single-source recycling.
Vic: It must be passed by 75%, which is why they want everyone to vote on it. There is a standard resolution in the book. I made some copies if you want to look at them. [Marie had also made and distributed copies.]
Vic, continuing: Janet Esposito said that they are paying their bills and making money and have put a new roof on the building. The main thing is that it is Portage County money and Portage County jobs. That is what bothers me (Vic)--the money and jobs will go somewhere else [if the proposal is not ratified]. A $1.8 million payroll would stay in Portage County.
Jason asked how long the plan is for. Answer: It is a 5-year plan with a 10-year update.
Jason said he had no problem with staying with the same service.
Vic said he knew that the City of Kent is very strong in supporting Portage County Recycling.
John Festa thought that if we didn't vote to pass this plan and the EPA got hold of it, then what we have now might look really good.
Sue Skrovan [who had attended the dinner] added that it is going to be single stream and more plastics will be accepted.
OK, OK: Here is what happened: Vic made a motion to pass the resolution after Marie read it; John Festa seconded it; unanimous.
Marie asked about tire cleanup being part of the spring clean up day, and Vic said it would be.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Mantua Township Trustees, 2-21-13
The official minutes of the February 7, 2013, meeting are on the official Township website, mantuatownshipohio.gov. Not only can you see the Fiscal Officer's opening report there, but also all of the bills approved for payment at that meeting. Follow the money!
Because the minutes are now being posted within a day of so of the meeting at which they are approved, your faithful blogger is no longer even making an attempt to put any of the financial information into a post. The website is easy to use, and the financial information there is easy to read.
The Fiscal Officer's report includes the list of correspondence, in addition to a statement of the current Township finances. The correspondence included an e-mail from Dawn Pechman about a records request. Marie requested an executive session to discuss personnel.
Blogger: Rather than present the result of that session clear at the end of all of the posts for this meeting, here it is now:
The purpose of the executive session was to discuss hiring a part time person to handle the huge records requests that have come in recently (see one of the posts for the previous meeting). The trustees approved hiring Betsy Woolf at $8.50 per hour to do that. She will be present while all records are being viewed for request and will make the copies required.
This action is permitted by law.
As I understand it, a different person with a similar penchant for reqesting records made it necessary for the Crestwood Board of Education to hire a person just for those requests. I believe that was a full-time hire, but I am not sure.
Zoning: Victor Grimm reported on these activities. A BZA hearing is coming up fairly soon, once Vic gets the records and paperwork in order. Another BZA hearing appears to be in the works.
The Trustees have hired Tierney Bryant to be the new Zoning Inspector, and Vic invited her to the last Zoning Commission meeting so that she and the Zoning Commission members could meet each other.
Chris Meduri is crafting a letter for a property on Frost Road (Pratt) and also is working on one about the property on S.R. 82 [that is paved with cars. Blogger's phrasing.]
Zoning Commission and BZA: Nothing to report.
Road Department, Brian Tayerle: Brian reported on plowing, patching, and the road signs that need to be repaired. A warranty repair was done on one of the trucks.
About the proposed mini-excavator: The Case CX 55 is an 11,000-pound machine. Brian thought that it would be a better idea to wait to purchase one rather than get rid of the road grader right away.
Brian: Personally, I think we can get along without it [the excavator]. We had talked about getting a used one, but if we waited we might be able to get something new; wait until we can afford it.
Vic and Brian talked back and forth about these ideas.
Garden Club: The group will have a field trip on March 9 for classes in Geauga County. The next meeting is on March 20 and will be a discussion of the by-laws.
Chamber of Commerce: John Festa reported that Shalersville donated $500 to the Ravenna Historic Flagpole project. Mantua Village talked about a sidewalk project. The superintendent talked about receiving 30 resumes for selecting a replacement. [Blogger: I am not sure whether this is the superintendent of the school system or another position.]
Trustee Reports: Jason began.
He reviewed the insurance premiums and the change for the road crew (paid for by raises, as described in both the minutes and in a previous blog post) to begin paying 10% of their premiums out of pocket.
Elected officials can not have either a reduction or increase while in office, term by term. A township downstate, however, had voluntary participation in a 10% giveback. In Mantua Township, we will begin paying 90% of the premiums with 10% coming out of pocket.
I will step up and volunteer 10% of the cost of my premium out of my pocket. I will open the floor for comments.
Vic: This was brought up last meeting about compensation and rates. I ran some of the numbers. The road crew received increases of .60, .90, and $1.00 per hour. They were being compensated 10% of their health insurance and then got a slight raise, which worked out to 2% and ___% [Blogger: I need to check; I think it was at most about 3.7%] after the deduction.
Vic, continuing: I looked at it, and the Ohio Constitution states that an elected official can not take an increase or decrease in their term. Also, our policy is not quite a unified policy at this time. I am going to adhere to the Ohio Constitution and stay as I am.
John Festa mentioned something from the Ohio Revised Code. Then, to Jason: I admire you for doing that, Jason. But there may be other avenues that will be beneficial to the Township. Cafeteria plans are going to be coming. We may want to discusss this with Chris Meduri.
Vic: I did have a discussion with Chris Meduri about this issue and am aware of the cafeteria plan. When Steve Oros was on the board, he was able to get a cheaper policy that the Ttownship paid.
Marie, to John Festa: This is only effective until September 28, 2012. [Apparently she was looking at whatever JF had just mentioned.}
John Festa: There is an addition to this.
Vic: It is just a wording change--a couple of words added to it.
Jason: I recognize that there are different things we can do and we can look into it. I am going to sign this paper stating that I am voluntarily paying 10% of my monthly health care premium. Next, he said something to Marie that, from context, must have been whether she was going to volunteer also.
Marie: Not at this time.
John Festa: Asked about resolutions regarding health care and the Township reimbursing.
Steve Oros had been reimbursed for his Medicare, which he got through his union membership and which was less expensive than the Township policy would have been.
John Festa is going to bring more information and Jason thought it should be ooked into further. JF referred to the ORC again.
Vic: It is the Ohio Constitution.
Jason then inquired about the possibility of doing a community shredding day for things like old tax documents, for example. The fee for Shreddit USA is $200/hr., which Jason thought was basically "peanuts," with a 3-hour minimum. The business does all the work. He wanted the other trustees to consider that possibility and said that he did not know of any other townships around us who do anything like this.
Marie asked if he had talked to anyone else, and John Festa thought it was something to look into. He said that personally he had boxes of stuff that he did not want to burn in the back yard.
Vic said he would talk to Bill Steiner (Portage County Recycling), and Jason thought that if the shredding could be gotten for free that would be good. He thought it would be a good thing to do for our residents.
Marie said that she takes her "stuff" to Portage County Recycling regularly.
Clutch repairs to the tractor were discussed, with quotes from Witmer and the old Cortland Tractor at $2000 and $1500, respectively. It would have to be hauled on a flatbed.
Vic mentioned a business in Garrettsville, and Jason said he could contact him. Something has to be done before mowing season.
This was the end of Jason's trustee report.
Because the minutes are now being posted within a day of so of the meeting at which they are approved, your faithful blogger is no longer even making an attempt to put any of the financial information into a post. The website is easy to use, and the financial information there is easy to read.
The Fiscal Officer's report includes the list of correspondence, in addition to a statement of the current Township finances. The correspondence included an e-mail from Dawn Pechman about a records request. Marie requested an executive session to discuss personnel.
Blogger: Rather than present the result of that session clear at the end of all of the posts for this meeting, here it is now:
The purpose of the executive session was to discuss hiring a part time person to handle the huge records requests that have come in recently (see one of the posts for the previous meeting). The trustees approved hiring Betsy Woolf at $8.50 per hour to do that. She will be present while all records are being viewed for request and will make the copies required.
This action is permitted by law.
As I understand it, a different person with a similar penchant for reqesting records made it necessary for the Crestwood Board of Education to hire a person just for those requests. I believe that was a full-time hire, but I am not sure.
Zoning: Victor Grimm reported on these activities. A BZA hearing is coming up fairly soon, once Vic gets the records and paperwork in order. Another BZA hearing appears to be in the works.
The Trustees have hired Tierney Bryant to be the new Zoning Inspector, and Vic invited her to the last Zoning Commission meeting so that she and the Zoning Commission members could meet each other.
Chris Meduri is crafting a letter for a property on Frost Road (Pratt) and also is working on one about the property on S.R. 82 [that is paved with cars. Blogger's phrasing.]
Zoning Commission and BZA: Nothing to report.
Road Department, Brian Tayerle: Brian reported on plowing, patching, and the road signs that need to be repaired. A warranty repair was done on one of the trucks.
About the proposed mini-excavator: The Case CX 55 is an 11,000-pound machine. Brian thought that it would be a better idea to wait to purchase one rather than get rid of the road grader right away.
Brian: Personally, I think we can get along without it [the excavator]. We had talked about getting a used one, but if we waited we might be able to get something new; wait until we can afford it.
Vic and Brian talked back and forth about these ideas.
Garden Club: The group will have a field trip on March 9 for classes in Geauga County. The next meeting is on March 20 and will be a discussion of the by-laws.
Chamber of Commerce: John Festa reported that Shalersville donated $500 to the Ravenna Historic Flagpole project. Mantua Village talked about a sidewalk project. The superintendent talked about receiving 30 resumes for selecting a replacement. [Blogger: I am not sure whether this is the superintendent of the school system or another position.]
Trustee Reports: Jason began.
He reviewed the insurance premiums and the change for the road crew (paid for by raises, as described in both the minutes and in a previous blog post) to begin paying 10% of their premiums out of pocket.
Elected officials can not have either a reduction or increase while in office, term by term. A township downstate, however, had voluntary participation in a 10% giveback. In Mantua Township, we will begin paying 90% of the premiums with 10% coming out of pocket.
I will step up and volunteer 10% of the cost of my premium out of my pocket. I will open the floor for comments.
Vic: This was brought up last meeting about compensation and rates. I ran some of the numbers. The road crew received increases of .60, .90, and $1.00 per hour. They were being compensated 10% of their health insurance and then got a slight raise, which worked out to 2% and ___% [Blogger: I need to check; I think it was at most about 3.7%] after the deduction.
Vic, continuing: I looked at it, and the Ohio Constitution states that an elected official can not take an increase or decrease in their term. Also, our policy is not quite a unified policy at this time. I am going to adhere to the Ohio Constitution and stay as I am.
John Festa mentioned something from the Ohio Revised Code. Then, to Jason: I admire you for doing that, Jason. But there may be other avenues that will be beneficial to the Township. Cafeteria plans are going to be coming. We may want to discusss this with Chris Meduri.
Vic: I did have a discussion with Chris Meduri about this issue and am aware of the cafeteria plan. When Steve Oros was on the board, he was able to get a cheaper policy that the Ttownship paid.
Marie, to John Festa: This is only effective until September 28, 2012. [Apparently she was looking at whatever JF had just mentioned.}
John Festa: There is an addition to this.
Vic: It is just a wording change--a couple of words added to it.
Jason: I recognize that there are different things we can do and we can look into it. I am going to sign this paper stating that I am voluntarily paying 10% of my monthly health care premium. Next, he said something to Marie that, from context, must have been whether she was going to volunteer also.
Marie: Not at this time.
John Festa: Asked about resolutions regarding health care and the Township reimbursing.
Steve Oros had been reimbursed for his Medicare, which he got through his union membership and which was less expensive than the Township policy would have been.
John Festa is going to bring more information and Jason thought it should be ooked into further. JF referred to the ORC again.
Vic: It is the Ohio Constitution.
Jason then inquired about the possibility of doing a community shredding day for things like old tax documents, for example. The fee for Shreddit USA is $200/hr., which Jason thought was basically "peanuts," with a 3-hour minimum. The business does all the work. He wanted the other trustees to consider that possibility and said that he did not know of any other townships around us who do anything like this.
Marie asked if he had talked to anyone else, and John Festa thought it was something to look into. He said that personally he had boxes of stuff that he did not want to burn in the back yard.
Vic said he would talk to Bill Steiner (Portage County Recycling), and Jason thought that if the shredding could be gotten for free that would be good. He thought it would be a good thing to do for our residents.
Marie said that she takes her "stuff" to Portage County Recycling regularly.
Clutch repairs to the tractor were discussed, with quotes from Witmer and the old Cortland Tractor at $2000 and $1500, respectively. It would have to be hauled on a flatbed.
Vic mentioned a business in Garrettsville, and Jason said he could contact him. Something has to be done before mowing season.
This was the end of Jason's trustee report.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Much Sound & Fury; last of Public Comment 2-7-13
Blogger Foreword: The last two speakers, in order, were Dawn Pechman and Steve Zielinski. Steve's remarks will be presented first.
Steve Zielinski, S.R. 82: A question: that dental and vision plan--who is on that?
Vic: We all have the option to be on it.
Steve: The road workers?
Vic: I believe.
Jason: Not on dental.
Marie: Not on dental.
Vic: That is where we have a hangup with all of this. It has to be unified. We can not have one plan for the trustees and another for the workers. That is where I have a problem with the compensation part of this under the ORC.
Steve: No copays?
Vic: Yes. The plan is very small. The dental is $1,000. Vision is for one checkup per year.
Blogger: Now, to go back and pick up Dawn Pechman's public comment. If it gets confusing to read, it was at least as confusing "live," because a couple of times at least three people were trying to talk.
Dawn Pechman, S.R. 82: I have once again to comment about public records and public meetings. I think it is very important that Mantua Township adhere to that. What I expect is basically from the Ohio Sunshine Laws. I have not had any responses to requests and I think this is a really serious problem. You can not get information.
Jason: I followed up with Marie and she says she has complied with each of your requests.
Dawn: She has not.
Marie: I have not received any requests that I have not filled. I have asked her repeatedly what she wants and gave her a blank sheet of paper and asked her to fill it in [when she came to the school building] and she gave it back to me blank.
Dawn: That is incorrect.
Marie: That is correct.
Jason: If there are records you want specifically, please write them down.
Dawn: I understand that and this is the thing. [Dawn had also called Vic about records; the next couple of comments arose from that exchange.]
Vic had said, "Let me know what you have not received."
Dawn: There is a whole list of things I have not received.
Jason: Can you show us that list?
Dawn: I do not have to give you a list. However you do have my e-mail. I don't know how to contact anyone for records. I have requested a special meeting that the trustees do not want to have. How do you get records? How do you get information--it's problematical, especially the financials.
All you can do is read Carole Pollard's blog site. Fortunately some people are videotaping the meetings. That is the only way you can get information in the township. I think it is about time we start following . . . .
Jason: I want to stop you right there. That is an absolutely false statement that you cannot get records in Mantua Township. I do not take records requests. Marie does.
Dawn: How do you submit a records request?
Marie: She has been getting records since 2004 and has gotten every one of them. Now she can't get hold of me. [Blogger: Somewhere in here, Marie also said that Dawn does not want to give her a list.]
Vic: I had a conversation with Dawn the other day and she told me she had not received records and I asked her what she was not receiving and I will try to follow up on it. Dawn, you asked me "What is your e-mail?" and I said I don't have one. I asked you again what do you want. You did not give any anything. I would have written it down.
Dawn: All I am asking for. . . . Since December 2004 a lot of rules and regulations have been put in place so people will not ask questions. For example, state your name and address and remain seated. [Blogger: During this whole exchange, Dawn was standing behind the last row of people.]
I don't respect how Mantua Township is handling public records and public meetings.
Jason: I will state again--if you have a records request Marie is the Fiscal Officer and takes the records requests. You can write or call her and I will let Marie handle that.
Marie: My e-mail has not been working [to Jason]--you experienced that last night. Phone calls and writing [are the best ways].
Vic: I asked to write down the request and I said I would write down what you wanted.
Dawn: I do not have to write anything down.
Blogger: It's time for some perspective here. First of all, at the beginning of every tax season, Dawn has made a huge records request of Marie. The one this year comes to about $50.00 once it is filled. Each page costs ten cents. So for the busiest 10 weeks of the year, Marie gets hit not only with the request, but with the kind of displays that Dawn made at this meeting. Since 2004, Marie has made between 7,000 and 10,000 copies, just for Dawn Some are repeat requests or repeats of repeats.
The Ohio Revised Code/the Sunshine Laws say that requests must be filled in a timely fashion, and if I remember some of that correctly, there is elasticity in that "timely fashion" idea, since the workload on a clerk/fiscal officer varies with the time of year. A public entity can be fined for each record that is withheld.
Dawn also referred to public meetings. When I started attending meetings in 2005 or so, Dawn had brought in someone from Aurora who bullied the trustees mercilessly about illegal meetings. There is, according to the 2009 Sunshine Laws handbook, a $500 fine for an illegal meeting. That issue has to go to court, and the losing party has to pay all of the court costs. At the time when Dawn had a "hired gun" adding to her voice, there were absolutely no illegal meetings; I think the imported harasser knew that, so it was never going to court; but the accusations were hurled regardless.
So--if you check the Portage County Court records and then think a little bit, it is not too difficult to imagine that someone with a long record of financial irresponsibility might--just might--see the fines and penalties attendant on public records/meetings violations as a possible cash cow.
Dawn referred to rules and regulations in meetings aimed at discouraging people from asking questions. Nope. Those were to try to bring some semblance of order to meetings that Dawn had made a practice of disrupting or monopolizing. I did not attend the infamous one in which she held forth for somewhere between 20 and 45 minutes. And "public" means exactly that. We don't wear white sheets and pointed hats with eyeholes cut in them. A clean, democratic society is one in which we are expected to have the courage and integrity to state our case in our own right.
And we also, on the other end of it, have a right to know who the loose cannons are. Otherwise, at election time, we might as well throw darts at a board. Or vote for the most expensive haircut. So--short take on Dawn's complaint about rules and regulations: Her own behavior is the reason for those rules and regulations. Pity. One more thing: Does anyone who has been reading this blog really believe that anyone has been discouraged from asking questions?
Lastly: The Sunshine Laws handbook states that a records request may be asked for in writing if that will help to fill the request accurately. Vic's point was that Dawn didn't have to write anything--if she would tell him what she wanted, he would write it down so she could get what she wanted. She also said during the meeting something about starting with all the minutes. Vic denied that she had said that, and Jason stopped a stiff round of "He said-she said." If an elected official lies, he or she could, under some circumstances, be prosecuted. If someone not elected lies, oh, well. More brown stuff thrown at the wall.
Steve Zielinski, S.R. 82: A question: that dental and vision plan--who is on that?
Vic: We all have the option to be on it.
Steve: The road workers?
Vic: I believe.
Jason: Not on dental.
Marie: Not on dental.
Vic: That is where we have a hangup with all of this. It has to be unified. We can not have one plan for the trustees and another for the workers. That is where I have a problem with the compensation part of this under the ORC.
Steve: No copays?
Vic: Yes. The plan is very small. The dental is $1,000. Vision is for one checkup per year.
Blogger: Now, to go back and pick up Dawn Pechman's public comment. If it gets confusing to read, it was at least as confusing "live," because a couple of times at least three people were trying to talk.
Dawn Pechman, S.R. 82: I have once again to comment about public records and public meetings. I think it is very important that Mantua Township adhere to that. What I expect is basically from the Ohio Sunshine Laws. I have not had any responses to requests and I think this is a really serious problem. You can not get information.
Jason: I followed up with Marie and she says she has complied with each of your requests.
Dawn: She has not.
Marie: I have not received any requests that I have not filled. I have asked her repeatedly what she wants and gave her a blank sheet of paper and asked her to fill it in [when she came to the school building] and she gave it back to me blank.
Dawn: That is incorrect.
Marie: That is correct.
Jason: If there are records you want specifically, please write them down.
Dawn: I understand that and this is the thing. [Dawn had also called Vic about records; the next couple of comments arose from that exchange.]
Vic had said, "Let me know what you have not received."
Dawn: There is a whole list of things I have not received.
Jason: Can you show us that list?
Dawn: I do not have to give you a list. However you do have my e-mail. I don't know how to contact anyone for records. I have requested a special meeting that the trustees do not want to have. How do you get records? How do you get information--it's problematical, especially the financials.
All you can do is read Carole Pollard's blog site. Fortunately some people are videotaping the meetings. That is the only way you can get information in the township. I think it is about time we start following . . . .
Jason: I want to stop you right there. That is an absolutely false statement that you cannot get records in Mantua Township. I do not take records requests. Marie does.
Dawn: How do you submit a records request?
Marie: She has been getting records since 2004 and has gotten every one of them. Now she can't get hold of me. [Blogger: Somewhere in here, Marie also said that Dawn does not want to give her a list.]
Vic: I had a conversation with Dawn the other day and she told me she had not received records and I asked her what she was not receiving and I will try to follow up on it. Dawn, you asked me "What is your e-mail?" and I said I don't have one. I asked you again what do you want. You did not give any anything. I would have written it down.
Dawn: All I am asking for. . . . Since December 2004 a lot of rules and regulations have been put in place so people will not ask questions. For example, state your name and address and remain seated. [Blogger: During this whole exchange, Dawn was standing behind the last row of people.]
I don't respect how Mantua Township is handling public records and public meetings.
Jason: I will state again--if you have a records request Marie is the Fiscal Officer and takes the records requests. You can write or call her and I will let Marie handle that.
Marie: My e-mail has not been working [to Jason]--you experienced that last night. Phone calls and writing [are the best ways].
Vic: I asked to write down the request and I said I would write down what you wanted.
Dawn: I do not have to write anything down.
Blogger: It's time for some perspective here. First of all, at the beginning of every tax season, Dawn has made a huge records request of Marie. The one this year comes to about $50.00 once it is filled. Each page costs ten cents. So for the busiest 10 weeks of the year, Marie gets hit not only with the request, but with the kind of displays that Dawn made at this meeting. Since 2004, Marie has made between 7,000 and 10,000 copies, just for Dawn Some are repeat requests or repeats of repeats.
The Ohio Revised Code/the Sunshine Laws say that requests must be filled in a timely fashion, and if I remember some of that correctly, there is elasticity in that "timely fashion" idea, since the workload on a clerk/fiscal officer varies with the time of year. A public entity can be fined for each record that is withheld.
Dawn also referred to public meetings. When I started attending meetings in 2005 or so, Dawn had brought in someone from Aurora who bullied the trustees mercilessly about illegal meetings. There is, according to the 2009 Sunshine Laws handbook, a $500 fine for an illegal meeting. That issue has to go to court, and the losing party has to pay all of the court costs. At the time when Dawn had a "hired gun" adding to her voice, there were absolutely no illegal meetings; I think the imported harasser knew that, so it was never going to court; but the accusations were hurled regardless.
So--if you check the Portage County Court records and then think a little bit, it is not too difficult to imagine that someone with a long record of financial irresponsibility might--just might--see the fines and penalties attendant on public records/meetings violations as a possible cash cow.
Dawn referred to rules and regulations in meetings aimed at discouraging people from asking questions. Nope. Those were to try to bring some semblance of order to meetings that Dawn had made a practice of disrupting or monopolizing. I did not attend the infamous one in which she held forth for somewhere between 20 and 45 minutes. And "public" means exactly that. We don't wear white sheets and pointed hats with eyeholes cut in them. A clean, democratic society is one in which we are expected to have the courage and integrity to state our case in our own right.
And we also, on the other end of it, have a right to know who the loose cannons are. Otherwise, at election time, we might as well throw darts at a board. Or vote for the most expensive haircut. So--short take on Dawn's complaint about rules and regulations: Her own behavior is the reason for those rules and regulations. Pity. One more thing: Does anyone who has been reading this blog really believe that anyone has been discouraged from asking questions?
Lastly: The Sunshine Laws handbook states that a records request may be asked for in writing if that will help to fill the request accurately. Vic's point was that Dawn didn't have to write anything--if she would tell him what she wanted, he would write it down so she could get what she wanted. She also said during the meeting something about starting with all the minutes. Vic denied that she had said that, and Jason stopped a stiff round of "He said-she said." If an elected official lies, he or she could, under some circumstances, be prosecuted. If someone not elected lies, oh, well. More brown stuff thrown at the wall.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Public Comment, 2-7-13 Trustees: What Savings?
Blogger Foreword: This post contains most of public comment. What remains needs to be as close as possible to a transcript and is long enough, if I remember correctly, to warrant its own post.
Also: This post contains much comment about the proposed savings regarding insurance premiums. I know right now that the numbers mentioned need to be checked and corrected if necessary, but this is what was said. I added something including numbers based on what I remember from earlier minutes and an earlier post. I will check the actual figures and dedicate a separate post to that information.
Public Comment began at 9:15.
Mark Hall, Loris Avenue: Mark asked a question about a correction to the meeting minutes from 1-24 and then proceeded.
Earlier when you were talking about the Zoning Book, whether it is recorded is not a function of validity; it is 30 days after the Board of Trustees approves of the changes.
Chagrin River Watershed Partnership: In the past, if your concern is ability to pay, there have been offers from other members to pay so members can participate.
Insurance: The pay increases given--was that to cover the cost of the insurance out of the pockets of the road workers?
Jason: We have been talking about taking a look at the health insurance--if we deducted 10% per year you needed to cover what you are deducting and give a raise.
Mark: So what is the cost savings? We are paying in wages and covering the employees' contribution, so there is no savings.
Jason: Correct, the first year. The second year you will have newly elected officials at the beginning of a new term. [Blogger note: Compensation and benefits for any elected official cannot change during the term. However, the regulations re-set at each election. So the trustees who will begin new four-year terms in 2014 will be bound by this 10% give-back.]
Mark: So you are planning on the savings coming from the elected officials only.
Jason went into an explanation of that and the voluntary participation. Then: I anticipate right now that down the road there will be savings.
Mark: So the cost savings will come from the elected officials only, not from all participants.
Answer: Yes.
Mark: That answers the question.
[Blogger: A previous post has already indicated what this voluntary 10% give-back would cost the elected officials right now: Almost nothing for Jason, and a lot for both Vic and Marie. So that's #1 on my "Say what?" questions about this.
Second: Look at the realities here: Only Vic and Jason are up for election in 2013. Vic and Mike Richards pay the same health care premium each month, so if Vic were to give back that 10%, that would cover only Mike's premium. Jason's contribution would not cover the amount of Brian's and Dan's 10%. This whole thing bears closer analysis, which it will get. Stay tuned.
Oh. Yes, I know that I did not mention Marie's give-back here. Would you voluntarily give up something like $3,000 per year--the highest sacrifice of the group--while someone else lost only $300? And remember--the trustees do not make as much as the lowest paid road crew worker.
Third: I know that household budgets are not the same as those those for government and public entities. But does anyone spend money in advance of anticipated savings? Maybe Washington, and we all know how well that works.]
Linda Ehlert, Pioneer Trail: I understand that you are getting estimates on the Center school and I know you are not looking at replacing windows now. This is a form of an interior story window that has been approved for historic restoration. Linda had a sample and said it could be installed by our own contractors.
Linda, continuing: I highlighted [on a handout] what can be saved by using this product. The acrylic interior storm window is three times more insulative than glass. This is something you can look at and can do perhaps one floor at a time.
Nate Adams says that high performance storm windows perform at 1/3 the cost. This could save money on heating and will not destroy the look of the structure.
Ellen Monroe, Wayne Road: I want to bring to everyone's attention that I have personally rented the annex for 6 consecutive Tuesdays beginning on March 6 for various community activities. Anyone who wants to try out what we could do with the school, this is an opportunity. I hope you will spread the word.
The Villager had a very nice article about it.
[Blogger Note: The Record Courier ran Ellie's letter in the Letters to the Editor, also, and an earlier blog post, "Tuesdays with Ellie," describes her plan as well.]
Roger Hurd, Center Road: I would like to comment on the CRWP. They are able to give us zoning language that I doubt that Soil and Water [in Ravenna] can give us because of their experience throughout Northeastern Ohio. It is a good investment, at least for the next year.
Cal Brant, Wayne Road: Do we have a kind of outline of a plan for what is going to take place in the cupola and [with] the shutters--what we are going to find.
Jason: When you actually take them off, you have something different than what they look like when they are on. Hopefully what we set aside will help on the exterior. We have to look at the ventilation. We don't know what we are looking at until we get into it.
[Blogger: Translation: There is no plan. This is a discovery process, as seems to be true of working on any old building. Anyone who has set about to do any kind of remodeling and repairs understands that as the nature of the beast. But not "having a plan" for the school building was howled about at great length and volume. What's the difference?]
Cal: Do we have any technical advice or are we assuming that this will be rectified with opinions? How are we going to go about the problem we are dealing with? I have suggested getting an engineering firm in here.
Jason: I don't think an engineering firm is in the budget. Every contractor we have talked to had a different view of it. [Blogger: A different opinion?] We are not going to know once we paint this building whether it has been any good or not for 10 years. [!]
Cal: For $500 we can get an engineering firm rather than spending thousands.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: You have heard my opinion on CRWP.
Getting to what Mark Hall said about insurance: originally it was going to be a 15% contribution from the road crew's wages to save insurance costs. At that figure, it would be a cumulative $2.06/hr. Their raise amounts to $2.50/hr. So in a standard week, they will cost us more.
Changing it to 10% means that the reduction in their wages is $1.38/hr. and the raise equals $1.12/hr.
If Mr. Festa and his wife take this, that will add more to the township's budget. There is no savings even if he and everyone up there contributes 10%.
Marie makes the most of the elected officials. Her 10% is going to be $1100/year.
This plan means we are paying out more. There is no savings. I am not complaining about the road workers' wages. But this was promoted to save money and it is no savings. But you are reluctant to spend $1,000 for CRWP, which gives us a lot of help and will continue to do so.
Jason: It is already in place. I don't know of any place that pays 100% of premiums and deductible. You are getting a Cadillac package. Our road crew's wages are lower than other townships.
Overall, I don't see us spending more money, I look at it as an added benefit.
[Blogger: Eh? In Washington, what President Obama calls "investment," the other side calls "spending."]
Jason, continuing: Once the newly elected official come in, they will be contributing and we will save then. As a board, that is what we decided. Our road crew gives us excellent service; we have 37 miles of road. I can justify 3 guys all day every day without any concern whatsoever. In another year this will be realized.
[Note: But Marie has said plainly that we cannot sustain the third person full time past the end of 2012. So is Jason's lack of concern a lack of concern for the fiscal health of the township?]
Dan Cozzens: The excavator is a good idea. As for the grader, put a reserve on it. The road crew is doing an excellent job and they are probably not paid enough. Dan asked about the elected officials' pay, and Jason got the figures and read them. Those figures are in an earlier post for this year, and they are also in the minutes for the first meetings of this year, January 10.
Those minutes are posted on the Township's official website, mantuatownshipohio.gov
[Blogger: Right now, a whole bunch of numbers are flying around about salaries and benefits and savings or not. I have said one thing and Dave another, based on what we remember or have in our notes and what we understand of the plan. I know that during the meeting Dave was calculating on the back of the agenda to come up with what he said. I will research this and do a separate blog post on only this topic with the figures from Marie--the only person at the front table and probably the only one in the room with a CPA, and the one with the best understanding of the budget.]
Also: This post contains much comment about the proposed savings regarding insurance premiums. I know right now that the numbers mentioned need to be checked and corrected if necessary, but this is what was said. I added something including numbers based on what I remember from earlier minutes and an earlier post. I will check the actual figures and dedicate a separate post to that information.
Public Comment began at 9:15.
Mark Hall, Loris Avenue: Mark asked a question about a correction to the meeting minutes from 1-24 and then proceeded.
Earlier when you were talking about the Zoning Book, whether it is recorded is not a function of validity; it is 30 days after the Board of Trustees approves of the changes.
Chagrin River Watershed Partnership: In the past, if your concern is ability to pay, there have been offers from other members to pay so members can participate.
Insurance: The pay increases given--was that to cover the cost of the insurance out of the pockets of the road workers?
Jason: We have been talking about taking a look at the health insurance--if we deducted 10% per year you needed to cover what you are deducting and give a raise.
Mark: So what is the cost savings? We are paying in wages and covering the employees' contribution, so there is no savings.
Jason: Correct, the first year. The second year you will have newly elected officials at the beginning of a new term. [Blogger note: Compensation and benefits for any elected official cannot change during the term. However, the regulations re-set at each election. So the trustees who will begin new four-year terms in 2014 will be bound by this 10% give-back.]
Mark: So you are planning on the savings coming from the elected officials only.
Jason went into an explanation of that and the voluntary participation. Then: I anticipate right now that down the road there will be savings.
Mark: So the cost savings will come from the elected officials only, not from all participants.
Answer: Yes.
Mark: That answers the question.
[Blogger: A previous post has already indicated what this voluntary 10% give-back would cost the elected officials right now: Almost nothing for Jason, and a lot for both Vic and Marie. So that's #1 on my "Say what?" questions about this.
Second: Look at the realities here: Only Vic and Jason are up for election in 2013. Vic and Mike Richards pay the same health care premium each month, so if Vic were to give back that 10%, that would cover only Mike's premium. Jason's contribution would not cover the amount of Brian's and Dan's 10%. This whole thing bears closer analysis, which it will get. Stay tuned.
Oh. Yes, I know that I did not mention Marie's give-back here. Would you voluntarily give up something like $3,000 per year--the highest sacrifice of the group--while someone else lost only $300? And remember--the trustees do not make as much as the lowest paid road crew worker.
Third: I know that household budgets are not the same as those those for government and public entities. But does anyone spend money in advance of anticipated savings? Maybe Washington, and we all know how well that works.]
Linda Ehlert, Pioneer Trail: I understand that you are getting estimates on the Center school and I know you are not looking at replacing windows now. This is a form of an interior story window that has been approved for historic restoration. Linda had a sample and said it could be installed by our own contractors.
Linda, continuing: I highlighted [on a handout] what can be saved by using this product. The acrylic interior storm window is three times more insulative than glass. This is something you can look at and can do perhaps one floor at a time.
Nate Adams says that high performance storm windows perform at 1/3 the cost. This could save money on heating and will not destroy the look of the structure.
Ellen Monroe, Wayne Road: I want to bring to everyone's attention that I have personally rented the annex for 6 consecutive Tuesdays beginning on March 6 for various community activities. Anyone who wants to try out what we could do with the school, this is an opportunity. I hope you will spread the word.
The Villager had a very nice article about it.
[Blogger Note: The Record Courier ran Ellie's letter in the Letters to the Editor, also, and an earlier blog post, "Tuesdays with Ellie," describes her plan as well.]
Roger Hurd, Center Road: I would like to comment on the CRWP. They are able to give us zoning language that I doubt that Soil and Water [in Ravenna] can give us because of their experience throughout Northeastern Ohio. It is a good investment, at least for the next year.
Cal Brant, Wayne Road: Do we have a kind of outline of a plan for what is going to take place in the cupola and [with] the shutters--what we are going to find.
Jason: When you actually take them off, you have something different than what they look like when they are on. Hopefully what we set aside will help on the exterior. We have to look at the ventilation. We don't know what we are looking at until we get into it.
[Blogger: Translation: There is no plan. This is a discovery process, as seems to be true of working on any old building. Anyone who has set about to do any kind of remodeling and repairs understands that as the nature of the beast. But not "having a plan" for the school building was howled about at great length and volume. What's the difference?]
Cal: Do we have any technical advice or are we assuming that this will be rectified with opinions? How are we going to go about the problem we are dealing with? I have suggested getting an engineering firm in here.
Jason: I don't think an engineering firm is in the budget. Every contractor we have talked to had a different view of it. [Blogger: A different opinion?] We are not going to know once we paint this building whether it has been any good or not for 10 years. [!]
Cal: For $500 we can get an engineering firm rather than spending thousands.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: You have heard my opinion on CRWP.
Getting to what Mark Hall said about insurance: originally it was going to be a 15% contribution from the road crew's wages to save insurance costs. At that figure, it would be a cumulative $2.06/hr. Their raise amounts to $2.50/hr. So in a standard week, they will cost us more.
Changing it to 10% means that the reduction in their wages is $1.38/hr. and the raise equals $1.12/hr.
If Mr. Festa and his wife take this, that will add more to the township's budget. There is no savings even if he and everyone up there contributes 10%.
Marie makes the most of the elected officials. Her 10% is going to be $1100/year.
This plan means we are paying out more. There is no savings. I am not complaining about the road workers' wages. But this was promoted to save money and it is no savings. But you are reluctant to spend $1,000 for CRWP, which gives us a lot of help and will continue to do so.
Jason: It is already in place. I don't know of any place that pays 100% of premiums and deductible. You are getting a Cadillac package. Our road crew's wages are lower than other townships.
Overall, I don't see us spending more money, I look at it as an added benefit.
[Blogger: Eh? In Washington, what President Obama calls "investment," the other side calls "spending."]
Jason, continuing: Once the newly elected official come in, they will be contributing and we will save then. As a board, that is what we decided. Our road crew gives us excellent service; we have 37 miles of road. I can justify 3 guys all day every day without any concern whatsoever. In another year this will be realized.
[Note: But Marie has said plainly that we cannot sustain the third person full time past the end of 2012. So is Jason's lack of concern a lack of concern for the fiscal health of the township?]
Dan Cozzens: The excavator is a good idea. As for the grader, put a reserve on it. The road crew is doing an excellent job and they are probably not paid enough. Dan asked about the elected officials' pay, and Jason got the figures and read them. Those figures are in an earlier post for this year, and they are also in the minutes for the first meetings of this year, January 10.
Those minutes are posted on the Township's official website, mantuatownshipohio.gov
[Blogger: Right now, a whole bunch of numbers are flying around about salaries and benefits and savings or not. I have said one thing and Dave another, based on what we remember or have in our notes and what we understand of the plan. I know that during the meeting Dave was calculating on the back of the agenda to come up with what he said. I will research this and do a separate blog post on only this topic with the figures from Marie--the only person at the front table and probably the only one in the room with a CPA, and the one with the best understanding of the budget.]
Saturday, February 16, 2013
More on Land Bank; Township Hall: 2-7-13 Trustees
Blogger Foreword: There is a little overlap between the end of the previous post and the beginning of this one, since the discussion of how the Land Bank relates to Robin Park abandoned homes was not complete at the end of that post.
Brenda Wieclaw, Robin Park Manager: We would be more than willing to give you help with the information that is needed.
Jason: But you are not willing to have a lien applied to the property.
Brenda: Not at this time, no.
Jason: I will follow up on this.
John Festa: Does that mobile home have a title? Is it considered a motor vehicle?
Brenda: It is a manufactured home.
JF: But it has wheels on it.
Brenda: It is moved in on wheels. They are taken off of their wheels [to be placed on the site.]
JF: Is there like a deed or is it like a car title?
Brenda: It is a title.
JF: So it has a serial number. Answer: Yes.
JF, continuing: So it would fall under the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. A trailer falls under motor vehicles.
[Blogger: I need to check to make sure who said this. I believe it was John Festa.]
Brenda: It is a residence--a manufactured home.
JF: But there is a title to it--like a car title.
Brenda: They are registered with the Auditor as manufactured homes.
JF: I understand that.
Jason: This is a unique situation. We are trying to get things straightened out. This is the only situation in Portage County where manufactured homes are being asked for grant money to be paid to remove them. This does not fall under our normal 508.56 in the ORC.
To Brenda: I will have some more information for you.
Brenda: Thank you.
Still under Old Business, Jason asked Vic about zoning and cemetery files. Vic indicated that there is an area in the school set aside for them.
There was a little about Portage County Recycling. See the minutes once they are posted on the Township website.
Center School building: Some discussion about the bids that have been put out for the work. Two have come in, and Jason asked about presenting those at this meeting or waiting.
Vic: Hold off and present them all at the same time.
John Festa asked if the work had been advertised. It had not. Three local contractors were contacted.
Mantua Township Hall
John Festa: Has talked with the guys in the "service department" (aka the road crew) about the shutters.
He was of the opinion that considering the weather, the work could begin on the cupola because [he thought] that would be on the inside. The road crew had agreed to that. He had asked Linda Ehlert if she had a key, which she does, and she also informed him that Vic has a key.
John Festa, continuing: The rest of the shutters could come down as the weather permits. I guess we are going to repair those and paint them ourselves.
Vic: I have a question. In this type of weather that cupola is going to be exposed.
John Festa: You said there was plywood up there.
Vic: Start with the lower shutters.
JF: I thought there would have to be other repairs that would have to be made. I asked you last time if there was plywood.
Vic: There is plywood in there, but it is holding it [Blogger: Not sure what "it" refers to.] up. You are going to have extensive work up there. It is not only inside. I think I have pictures that I can show you. There is plywood holding things in right now, and the trim is going to have to be repaired also. When the weather is good you can work on that. [Doing it now] will open the whole attic.
Vic, continuing: The shutters are what is stopping stuff from blowing through there. Didn't you go up there?
JF: I did. I asked last time if we can t ke the shutters down. You said there was plywood up there. I think we should just go ahead and get this started. If we have to put plywood up there, we put it up there.
Vic: Once you open that, there is trim work that has to be repaired that is holding the shutters in. The shutters have to be removed [and let down] from the outside. Right now there is plywood attached to the shutters and holding it in.
Continuing: Each shutter is going to have to be labeled and identified.
Jason: Wait until springtime.
Vic: You are only talking about 8 shutters up there, but thee is a lot of trim work. In this weather you can take the lower level shutters off and you can work on anything else you have to. There are 23 shutters [on the lower level at the windows.]
John Festa: So you are talking about delaying.
Vic: No. I am suggesting that you start on the lower shutters now.
Jason: There are three parts to this: The upper shutters, lower shutters, and cupola. If we start lower while it is cold out, it would make better sense. What does it matter what gets done first?
[Blogger: About the plywood: If I understand this correctly from a number of previous discussions, there is plywood stabilizing the shutters in the cupola on the inside, I think. The plywood does not completely cover the openings in the cupola, so removing the shutters leaves a gap that water and snow can enter.]
Public Comment began after this exchange.
Brenda Wieclaw, Robin Park Manager: We would be more than willing to give you help with the information that is needed.
Jason: But you are not willing to have a lien applied to the property.
Brenda: Not at this time, no.
Jason: I will follow up on this.
John Festa: Does that mobile home have a title? Is it considered a motor vehicle?
Brenda: It is a manufactured home.
JF: But it has wheels on it.
Brenda: It is moved in on wheels. They are taken off of their wheels [to be placed on the site.]
JF: Is there like a deed or is it like a car title?
Brenda: It is a title.
JF: So it has a serial number. Answer: Yes.
JF, continuing: So it would fall under the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. A trailer falls under motor vehicles.
[Blogger: I need to check to make sure who said this. I believe it was John Festa.]
Brenda: It is a residence--a manufactured home.
JF: But there is a title to it--like a car title.
Brenda: They are registered with the Auditor as manufactured homes.
JF: I understand that.
Jason: This is a unique situation. We are trying to get things straightened out. This is the only situation in Portage County where manufactured homes are being asked for grant money to be paid to remove them. This does not fall under our normal 508.56 in the ORC.
To Brenda: I will have some more information for you.
Brenda: Thank you.
Still under Old Business, Jason asked Vic about zoning and cemetery files. Vic indicated that there is an area in the school set aside for them.
There was a little about Portage County Recycling. See the minutes once they are posted on the Township website.
Center School building: Some discussion about the bids that have been put out for the work. Two have come in, and Jason asked about presenting those at this meeting or waiting.
Vic: Hold off and present them all at the same time.
John Festa asked if the work had been advertised. It had not. Three local contractors were contacted.
Mantua Township Hall
John Festa: Has talked with the guys in the "service department" (aka the road crew) about the shutters.
He was of the opinion that considering the weather, the work could begin on the cupola because [he thought] that would be on the inside. The road crew had agreed to that. He had asked Linda Ehlert if she had a key, which she does, and she also informed him that Vic has a key.
John Festa, continuing: The rest of the shutters could come down as the weather permits. I guess we are going to repair those and paint them ourselves.
Vic: I have a question. In this type of weather that cupola is going to be exposed.
John Festa: You said there was plywood up there.
Vic: Start with the lower shutters.
JF: I thought there would have to be other repairs that would have to be made. I asked you last time if there was plywood.
Vic: There is plywood in there, but it is holding it [Blogger: Not sure what "it" refers to.] up. You are going to have extensive work up there. It is not only inside. I think I have pictures that I can show you. There is plywood holding things in right now, and the trim is going to have to be repaired also. When the weather is good you can work on that. [Doing it now] will open the whole attic.
Vic, continuing: The shutters are what is stopping stuff from blowing through there. Didn't you go up there?
JF: I did. I asked last time if we can t ke the shutters down. You said there was plywood up there. I think we should just go ahead and get this started. If we have to put plywood up there, we put it up there.
Vic: Once you open that, there is trim work that has to be repaired that is holding the shutters in. The shutters have to be removed [and let down] from the outside. Right now there is plywood attached to the shutters and holding it in.
Continuing: Each shutter is going to have to be labeled and identified.
Jason: Wait until springtime.
Vic: You are only talking about 8 shutters up there, but thee is a lot of trim work. In this weather you can take the lower level shutters off and you can work on anything else you have to. There are 23 shutters [on the lower level at the windows.]
John Festa: So you are talking about delaying.
Vic: No. I am suggesting that you start on the lower shutters now.
Jason: There are three parts to this: The upper shutters, lower shutters, and cupola. If we start lower while it is cold out, it would make better sense. What does it matter what gets done first?
[Blogger: About the plywood: If I understand this correctly from a number of previous discussions, there is plywood stabilizing the shutters in the cupola on the inside, I think. The plywood does not completely cover the openings in the cupola, so removing the shutters leaves a gap that water and snow can enter.]
Public Comment began after this exchange.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Mantua Township Trustees, 2-7-13
Jason: Some discussion with Linda Ehlert, of the Historical Society, about moving some glass and wood cabinets out of the school building. Linda promised to bring it up with the Historical Society at the next meeting, and also asked about moving the piano out of the township hall, if the township road crew could help with that.
Chagrin River Watershed Partnership: Jason is the Township rep to CRWP and questioned the value of membership, which costs about $1,000 per year, with a 1% increase for the coming year. He thought that we might not use the organization enough and that we occupy such a small amount of the watershed might not justify continued membership.
Several people responded to that.
Vic: Asked about the dues. Marie: They will come to $1,073.30. There is also a conflict of interest policy. [Blogger: I do not know what that entails in this case.]
Vic, continuing: The Zoning Commission originally recommended joining.
Lynn Harvey: We are using their services. Thney are very knowledgeable and helpful. I can't say we are done using their services. We can still take advantage of their knowledge.
Jason: Have you contacted Portage Co. Soil and Water? They are very knowledgeable as well, and their services are already available to us. We are trying to cut some costs. [Blogger: I suggest really tracking what is spent and what is cut to see how solid this statement is. Follow the money.] Did they actually do something?
Lynn: They did a presentation that we needed. I would hate to have it cut off right now.
Jason: Can you get back to me with questions you would pose to CRWP so I can take it to Portage Co. and see what their answers would be? Are their services necessary?
Vic: Will you keep needing them?
Lynn: Maybe one more year and then we can get what we need from Portage Co.
Vic: It does not seem to have gone up very much at all from the start. How much have you utilized them, and I thought you had had them out recently. When we were reviewing the flood plains and the new zoning book, we utilized them. Gather some information.
Dave Pollard (Zoning Alternate): Almost 1/2 of the township drains into the Chagrin River Watershed. They have a vested interest in helping us more than someone who just looks at which way the streams run. They have been very helpful in our work with zoning. It is what they have been doing right along. To me it has been $1,000 well spent. There are other things that have not been spent as well and things proposed that do not make as much sense [as staying in the CRWP].
Jason said he had gone to two meetings; John Festa asked whether we would get t his month's meeting if we did not pay the dues.
Jason added that they are knowlegeable and good at what they do.
Marie asked what the billing rate is, and Jason wondered whether they would supply services to non members at an hourly rate.
Back to the mini-excavator: Jason wants to get specifications together so that, with the specifications, bids and quotes could be gotten under state bidding guidelines. [Blogger: Wouldn't the specifications indicate the price--and then the money could be appropriated, if the cost fell within our means?]
Discussion:
John Festa: The backhoe is a little too big.
Jim Aldrich: Offer the grader as a trade.
John Festa: Tried to shop the grader in Columbus and got nowhere. He asked about the tractor to mow with, and Jason said there is a longer reach on it. John Festa deferred his other comments to Old Business.
Vic commented on some zoning items, including that the house/building at the end of Herman Road had been razed.
Under Old Business, there was further discusssion about the Land Bank. Jason reviewed the process, saying that there seem to have been some misconceptions about how it all works. Jason also explained how grant money works in relation to demolition liens.
Jason also gave information about how this process works with mobile homes, which sit on land owned by someone else--that is, in this case, Robin Park. He asked Brenda Wieclaw, who manages Robin Park and was present, about who owns the mobile homes.
Brenda Wieclaw: The abandoned homes are individually owned.
Jason: So someone actually owns them.
Brenda reiterated that they (a private person, not the park) own the home that is on the Robin Park property.
Jason asked about how the property taxes work.
Answer: They pay taxes on the home. The property owner pays taxes on the land.
Jason: So all property taxes are paid by Robin Park.
Vic: I had a conversation with Vicki Kline (Portage Co. Treasurer) about this. It is a Catch 22.
Jason: So Chris Meduri's concern about the condemnation process is what applies here? To Brenda:
Those abandoned homes on park property--what is the situation with the owners? Have they just abandoned them? Who gives anyone the right to demolish them?
Brenda: We decided to look into the grand to see if it can help us. There are so many taxes out there owed to Portage County, it seems as if the County does not try to collect them. The tax is called a Manufactured Home Tax.
Jason: What I am hearing is that you will give consent in writing to come onto the property and demolish these homes but [are] not willing to have a lien applied.
Brenda: We would be more than happy to have you get rid of them. She offered to give any owner information [to the trustees].
[Blogger: There is more on this, but I need to check against the recording.]
Chagrin River Watershed Partnership: Jason is the Township rep to CRWP and questioned the value of membership, which costs about $1,000 per year, with a 1% increase for the coming year. He thought that we might not use the organization enough and that we occupy such a small amount of the watershed might not justify continued membership.
Several people responded to that.
Vic: Asked about the dues. Marie: They will come to $1,073.30. There is also a conflict of interest policy. [Blogger: I do not know what that entails in this case.]
Vic, continuing: The Zoning Commission originally recommended joining.
Lynn Harvey: We are using their services. Thney are very knowledgeable and helpful. I can't say we are done using their services. We can still take advantage of their knowledge.
Jason: Have you contacted Portage Co. Soil and Water? They are very knowledgeable as well, and their services are already available to us. We are trying to cut some costs. [Blogger: I suggest really tracking what is spent and what is cut to see how solid this statement is. Follow the money.] Did they actually do something?
Lynn: They did a presentation that we needed. I would hate to have it cut off right now.
Jason: Can you get back to me with questions you would pose to CRWP so I can take it to Portage Co. and see what their answers would be? Are their services necessary?
Vic: Will you keep needing them?
Lynn: Maybe one more year and then we can get what we need from Portage Co.
Vic: It does not seem to have gone up very much at all from the start. How much have you utilized them, and I thought you had had them out recently. When we were reviewing the flood plains and the new zoning book, we utilized them. Gather some information.
Dave Pollard (Zoning Alternate): Almost 1/2 of the township drains into the Chagrin River Watershed. They have a vested interest in helping us more than someone who just looks at which way the streams run. They have been very helpful in our work with zoning. It is what they have been doing right along. To me it has been $1,000 well spent. There are other things that have not been spent as well and things proposed that do not make as much sense [as staying in the CRWP].
Jason said he had gone to two meetings; John Festa asked whether we would get t his month's meeting if we did not pay the dues.
Jason added that they are knowlegeable and good at what they do.
Marie asked what the billing rate is, and Jason wondered whether they would supply services to non members at an hourly rate.
Back to the mini-excavator: Jason wants to get specifications together so that, with the specifications, bids and quotes could be gotten under state bidding guidelines. [Blogger: Wouldn't the specifications indicate the price--and then the money could be appropriated, if the cost fell within our means?]
Discussion:
John Festa: The backhoe is a little too big.
Jim Aldrich: Offer the grader as a trade.
John Festa: Tried to shop the grader in Columbus and got nowhere. He asked about the tractor to mow with, and Jason said there is a longer reach on it. John Festa deferred his other comments to Old Business.
Vic commented on some zoning items, including that the house/building at the end of Herman Road had been razed.
Under Old Business, there was further discusssion about the Land Bank. Jason reviewed the process, saying that there seem to have been some misconceptions about how it all works. Jason also explained how grant money works in relation to demolition liens.
Jason also gave information about how this process works with mobile homes, which sit on land owned by someone else--that is, in this case, Robin Park. He asked Brenda Wieclaw, who manages Robin Park and was present, about who owns the mobile homes.
Brenda Wieclaw: The abandoned homes are individually owned.
Jason: So someone actually owns them.
Brenda reiterated that they (a private person, not the park) own the home that is on the Robin Park property.
Jason asked about how the property taxes work.
Answer: They pay taxes on the home. The property owner pays taxes on the land.
Jason: So all property taxes are paid by Robin Park.
Vic: I had a conversation with Vicki Kline (Portage Co. Treasurer) about this. It is a Catch 22.
Jason: So Chris Meduri's concern about the condemnation process is what applies here? To Brenda:
Those abandoned homes on park property--what is the situation with the owners? Have they just abandoned them? Who gives anyone the right to demolish them?
Brenda: We decided to look into the grand to see if it can help us. There are so many taxes out there owed to Portage County, it seems as if the County does not try to collect them. The tax is called a Manufactured Home Tax.
Jason: What I am hearing is that you will give consent in writing to come onto the property and demolish these homes but [are] not willing to have a lien applied.
Brenda: We would be more than happy to have you get rid of them. She offered to give any owner information [to the trustees].
[Blogger: There is more on this, but I need to check against the recording.]
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Mantua Township Trustees 2-7-13
[Blogger Foreword: The next meeting will be February 21. I anticipate that the official minutes of the February 7 meeting will be posted on mantuatownshipohio.gov within a couple of days after that, if not the next day. This blog post is going to be (I hope) streamlined in order not to duplicate the minutes. So--once more into unfamiliar territory.]
Every winter, the Ohio Township Association holds a conference in Columbus that, as I understand it, gives trustees and others a chance to talk with various vendors (equipment is always of interest, to put it mildly) and to attend workshops on the law, services, and other matters that will help our elected officials do their jobs more effectively and confidently.
A regular feature of those conferences is a session on the "Sunshine Laws," which deal with open public records and various legal questions regarding them. The presenters emphasize that it is desirable and recommended that the class be taken as early in the term as possible. [One of the earliest blog posts, in 2011, is titled "Let the Sun Shine In."]
Marie asked about the records training. Jason said that he had until the end of the year to complete it. [I did not hear whether John Festa said anything about it.]
The incumbents on the Board of Zoning Appeals whose terms were up were reappointed, the positions having been advertised with no response. Those reappointments were Kathy Kelly, member, and Keith Barton, alternate.
[Blogger: Since this was the meeting when the budget was worked on, I urge you to check the website for that information.]
Jason: asked about the Buildings and Sites Fund, which had had about $14,000-$15,000 appropriated for exterior renovations to the Township Hall. It looked to him as if that had not been re-appropriated.
Marie: explained that at the end of the year all line items go to zero. She said that she usually does not budget anything in improvement of sites and gave a list of what had been allocated last year.
Jason: I would like to appropriate for the improvement of sites and we can continue working on this building once the weather breaks. [Blogger: Hold that phrase--"once the weather breaks"--in mind for later in this meeting.]
[Blogger: Check the figures listed below against the minutes. This is what I think was finally determined on this subject.]
Civic Center $1500
Town Hall $13,000
Cemetery $800
Administration Building $11,000 (The school building; we are all trying to call it something that indicates what it is now.)
There was some discussion about funds to go to the cemetery and the salt shed.
Vic commented about the salt class at the OTA conference.
Jason, New Business:
The topic was a mini excavator. The townships that have them love them. I would like to set aside some money--move $5,000 from the cemetery into Machinery and Equipment because we have $9327 available.
$10,000 from Road and Bridge to Machinery and Equipment, maybe $15,000, and $15,000 out of the road levy into Machinery and Equipment.
We also have a little over $10,000 in the Capital Equipment Fund and we have the road grader that we can sell as well. If we do move the money, we are looking at about $60,000, maybe a little more with a trailer. [Blogger Note: This piece of equipment can do a number of things, but it has to be trailered from site to site.]
Jason also mentioned a potential lease-purchase arrangement.
Marie: asked a question about this and recommended that it be done tonight. If we do not do it this year, at the end of the year it all rolls to zero again and nothing is lost. Whatever is left in the balance can be split between Materials and Contracted Services.
Marie gave Lynn Harvey a chance to talk about the zoning books, which are pertinent to the budget.
Basically, Lynn said that the revisions had been extensive enough to warrant a reformatting and reprinting. About 20 hard copy books are needed, for a total cost of $450-$460. There was some discussion about that.
Lynn asked about the Zoning Commission computer, which, it turns out, had been John Vechery's personal computer.
Money was moved from the General Fund to the Zoning Fund to cover the cost of the books. That brings the amount in the General Fund to $23,000.
Jason announced that the new cemetery sexton is Jim Aldrich. Marie pointed out that for 29 years Jim has been putting the flags on the veterans' graves.
Cemetery Report: Graves, $440
Burials, $1,375
There was some discussion about salt.
Garden Club, Ladies Cemetery Association, and Chamber of Commerce: Nothing to report.
New Business, continued:
Jason: At one of the previous meetings we gave our road crew raises but also due to increasing costs in insurance premiums asked them to pay 10% of the premium out of pocket. What is different for public employees is that when you come into a term, you can not increase your salary legally. So basically having any non elected official pay 10%, the elected person can not pay the 10% until they come into a new term.
Jason had a form from another township that did this with the non elected officials and volunteered for the elected officials to join in voluntarily. [Blogger: This is pretty awkward phrasing, which may be my note taking on this part.] Chris Meduri is OK on this. I would highly recommend that we do this because of our high premiums and because the road crew are paying the 10%.
John Festa brought up something he had passed out called a cafeteria plan and asked the trustees to review it and discuss it at the next meeting.
Jason asked for some explanation.
John Festa said it was something else to consider.
Marie asked about whether it could be done in term.
Jason asked how it would save us money.
John Festa: I am not sure exactly [and then he hypothesized about it. Somehow this is connected with John Festa's employer.]
[Blogger: The devil is in the details. The road crew is now paying 10% of their health insurance out of pocket, but they were each given a raise, as noted in a previous blog post. The voluntary 10% from the trustees and Marie that Jason has mentioned would cost him about $24.00 a month; Vic, approximately $110.00/month; Marie, approximately $250.00/month--with no compensating raise because that is not permitted by law. So would someone correct me if I'm wrong, but is this a way of having the elected officials subsidize the cost of the changes to the road crew's compensation? This proposal would cost Marie $3,000/year, Vic $1,320/year, and Jason--$288/year.]
Every winter, the Ohio Township Association holds a conference in Columbus that, as I understand it, gives trustees and others a chance to talk with various vendors (equipment is always of interest, to put it mildly) and to attend workshops on the law, services, and other matters that will help our elected officials do their jobs more effectively and confidently.
A regular feature of those conferences is a session on the "Sunshine Laws," which deal with open public records and various legal questions regarding them. The presenters emphasize that it is desirable and recommended that the class be taken as early in the term as possible. [One of the earliest blog posts, in 2011, is titled "Let the Sun Shine In."]
Marie asked about the records training. Jason said that he had until the end of the year to complete it. [I did not hear whether John Festa said anything about it.]
The incumbents on the Board of Zoning Appeals whose terms were up were reappointed, the positions having been advertised with no response. Those reappointments were Kathy Kelly, member, and Keith Barton, alternate.
[Blogger: Since this was the meeting when the budget was worked on, I urge you to check the website for that information.]
Jason: asked about the Buildings and Sites Fund, which had had about $14,000-$15,000 appropriated for exterior renovations to the Township Hall. It looked to him as if that had not been re-appropriated.
Marie: explained that at the end of the year all line items go to zero. She said that she usually does not budget anything in improvement of sites and gave a list of what had been allocated last year.
Jason: I would like to appropriate for the improvement of sites and we can continue working on this building once the weather breaks. [Blogger: Hold that phrase--"once the weather breaks"--in mind for later in this meeting.]
[Blogger: Check the figures listed below against the minutes. This is what I think was finally determined on this subject.]
Civic Center $1500
Town Hall $13,000
Cemetery $800
Administration Building $11,000 (The school building; we are all trying to call it something that indicates what it is now.)
There was some discussion about funds to go to the cemetery and the salt shed.
Vic commented about the salt class at the OTA conference.
Jason, New Business:
The topic was a mini excavator. The townships that have them love them. I would like to set aside some money--move $5,000 from the cemetery into Machinery and Equipment because we have $9327 available.
$10,000 from Road and Bridge to Machinery and Equipment, maybe $15,000, and $15,000 out of the road levy into Machinery and Equipment.
We also have a little over $10,000 in the Capital Equipment Fund and we have the road grader that we can sell as well. If we do move the money, we are looking at about $60,000, maybe a little more with a trailer. [Blogger Note: This piece of equipment can do a number of things, but it has to be trailered from site to site.]
Jason also mentioned a potential lease-purchase arrangement.
Marie: asked a question about this and recommended that it be done tonight. If we do not do it this year, at the end of the year it all rolls to zero again and nothing is lost. Whatever is left in the balance can be split between Materials and Contracted Services.
Marie gave Lynn Harvey a chance to talk about the zoning books, which are pertinent to the budget.
Basically, Lynn said that the revisions had been extensive enough to warrant a reformatting and reprinting. About 20 hard copy books are needed, for a total cost of $450-$460. There was some discussion about that.
Lynn asked about the Zoning Commission computer, which, it turns out, had been John Vechery's personal computer.
Money was moved from the General Fund to the Zoning Fund to cover the cost of the books. That brings the amount in the General Fund to $23,000.
Jason announced that the new cemetery sexton is Jim Aldrich. Marie pointed out that for 29 years Jim has been putting the flags on the veterans' graves.
Cemetery Report: Graves, $440
Burials, $1,375
There was some discussion about salt.
Garden Club, Ladies Cemetery Association, and Chamber of Commerce: Nothing to report.
New Business, continued:
Jason: At one of the previous meetings we gave our road crew raises but also due to increasing costs in insurance premiums asked them to pay 10% of the premium out of pocket. What is different for public employees is that when you come into a term, you can not increase your salary legally. So basically having any non elected official pay 10%, the elected person can not pay the 10% until they come into a new term.
Jason had a form from another township that did this with the non elected officials and volunteered for the elected officials to join in voluntarily. [Blogger: This is pretty awkward phrasing, which may be my note taking on this part.] Chris Meduri is OK on this. I would highly recommend that we do this because of our high premiums and because the road crew are paying the 10%.
John Festa brought up something he had passed out called a cafeteria plan and asked the trustees to review it and discuss it at the next meeting.
Jason asked for some explanation.
John Festa said it was something else to consider.
Marie asked about whether it could be done in term.
Jason asked how it would save us money.
John Festa: I am not sure exactly [and then he hypothesized about it. Somehow this is connected with John Festa's employer.]
[Blogger: The devil is in the details. The road crew is now paying 10% of their health insurance out of pocket, but they were each given a raise, as noted in a previous blog post. The voluntary 10% from the trustees and Marie that Jason has mentioned would cost him about $24.00 a month; Vic, approximately $110.00/month; Marie, approximately $250.00/month--with no compensating raise because that is not permitted by law. So would someone correct me if I'm wrong, but is this a way of having the elected officials subsidize the cost of the changes to the road crew's compensation? This proposal would cost Marie $3,000/year, Vic $1,320/year, and Jason--$288/year.]
Official Township Website and This Blog
Up until about ten days ago, it had not been possible for Marie to post minutes to the Township's website,
mantuatownshipohio.gov.
That glitch has been removed, and the official minutes can now be seen on our website.
Official means that the minutes have been read, corrected if and as necessary, and signed at the following meeting. Thus, the minutes are posted two or three weeks after the meeting they record, depending on whether there are four or five Thursdays in that month.
You can now get more information about the money than the blog has given. I have never been able to keep up with the opening report from the fiscal officer, and I never even tried to list the items for the correspondence book. All of that is in the official minutes.
Even more important, the official minutes contain a list of all the bills that were paid at the meeting of record. Anyone who is interested can now see where the money is going, and also what fund it may have been shifted from to fill in another one. The now-famous phrase is "Follow the money." The discussions in meetings may be interesting, but the money shows how the business of the township is being conducted and managed.
The "bible" for parliamentary procedure, as most of us have learned from one kind of meeting or another, is Robert's Rules of Order, a hefty 700-plus pages in the 10th edition. Here is what that authority says about minutes:
"The record of the proceedings of a deliberative assembly is usually called the minutes, or sometimes--particularly in legislative bodies--the journal. In an ordinary society, unless the minutes are to be published, they should contain mainly a record of what was done at the meeting, not what was said by the members. The minutes should never reflect the secretary's opinion, favorable or otherwise, on anything said or done."
Marie goes beyond that bare-bones definition of minutes, but she is not making a transcript.
Neither does the blog, for the most part. One post took me three hours to get seventeen minutes of commentary because I thought it was important and revealing and had to listen to it over and over. It is seldom necessary to do that.
With the minutes available to everyone now, what the blog can continue to do is give relevant or revealing discussions among the trustees on items of concern; to give fairly complete public comment; and to fill in background and history if it seems useful. The blog should be more streamlined now, but I hope you check the township website and at least skim the minutes. I may nudge you to do that, surprise, surprise.
The other thing I hope to do now in the blog is give more information about how things work, like the posts about the fiscal officer's duties as defined by law and performance as reviewed by the State.
mantuatownshipohio.gov.
That glitch has been removed, and the official minutes can now be seen on our website.
Official means that the minutes have been read, corrected if and as necessary, and signed at the following meeting. Thus, the minutes are posted two or three weeks after the meeting they record, depending on whether there are four or five Thursdays in that month.
You can now get more information about the money than the blog has given. I have never been able to keep up with the opening report from the fiscal officer, and I never even tried to list the items for the correspondence book. All of that is in the official minutes.
Even more important, the official minutes contain a list of all the bills that were paid at the meeting of record. Anyone who is interested can now see where the money is going, and also what fund it may have been shifted from to fill in another one. The now-famous phrase is "Follow the money." The discussions in meetings may be interesting, but the money shows how the business of the township is being conducted and managed.
The "bible" for parliamentary procedure, as most of us have learned from one kind of meeting or another, is Robert's Rules of Order, a hefty 700-plus pages in the 10th edition. Here is what that authority says about minutes:
"The record of the proceedings of a deliberative assembly is usually called the minutes, or sometimes--particularly in legislative bodies--the journal. In an ordinary society, unless the minutes are to be published, they should contain mainly a record of what was done at the meeting, not what was said by the members. The minutes should never reflect the secretary's opinion, favorable or otherwise, on anything said or done."
Marie goes beyond that bare-bones definition of minutes, but she is not making a transcript.
Neither does the blog, for the most part. One post took me three hours to get seventeen minutes of commentary because I thought it was important and revealing and had to listen to it over and over. It is seldom necessary to do that.
With the minutes available to everyone now, what the blog can continue to do is give relevant or revealing discussions among the trustees on items of concern; to give fairly complete public comment; and to fill in background and history if it seems useful. The blog should be more streamlined now, but I hope you check the township website and at least skim the minutes. I may nudge you to do that, surprise, surprise.
The other thing I hope to do now in the blog is give more information about how things work, like the posts about the fiscal officer's duties as defined by law and performance as reviewed by the State.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Tuesdays with Ellie
Ellie Monroe has decided to "put her money where her mouth is" and do something herself to use the Mantua Township Administrative Building--the school, as we have thought of it since forever.
The February 8 edition of The Villager has a nice, nice article with a gorgeous photo of the beautiful building where a lot of us got our first taste of school and another very nice picture of Ellie with one of the many charity quilts she has made. Stacy Turner did a wonderful job writing it.
If you haven't seen or missed the article, here are some borrowings from it, plus some other ideas.
Ellie has signed a contract to rent the gymnasium/annex for six Tuesdays, starting March 12, from morning to late afternoon/early evening. Actually, she has the building from 7 a.m. to midnight, but wryly said she does not expect or intend to be there all that time! From 9 a.m. until 7 or 8 p.m. sounds about right, she says.
So--what's the plan? What's happening? Well, what would you like? Ellie has a lot of community and fellowship ideas, based partly on how things have gone at the various social events at the annex so far, when people seemed to enjoy just being together there. Here are some of the possibilities: needlework, knitting, crocheting, quilting, watercolor painting, charity projects, reading to children, swapping "stuff" you don't need with someone who could use it, and on.
Gentlemen, step up and suggest things you would like to do. If it's hanging out over coffee in an airy, spacious place, here it is. Years ago, when I was looking for a way to pursue art once I retired, I tried wood carving and met with a carvers' group, most of them crusty and gray haired and fun. Do any of you do that? The carving, that is. Or something similar. For that matter, maybe you'd like to be a grandpa or uncle for a day and read to kids--or tell them stories about things you did at the same age.
Ellie said that she'd like for there to be potluck meals, too, and I bet that cookies or other goodies will just kind of show up as people begin to gather. She said that she wants it to be a gathering place, which we do not really have in the Township. Not yet, anyhow.
As Ellie and others have said, it is our building. Township residents paid for and built it nearly a hundred years ago, and we have paid for it again to buy it back from the school board even though that seemed somehow not quite right. After all, we had always supported it through the school levies for years. But that's how it is. Now, at last, it is ours again--but we need to use it and demonstrate that it is something we value and want to keep.
Details will be coming closer to the starting date. Watch The Villager, The Community Journal, and for fliers that will be put out in various public places. If you have an idea for a program or activity, or if you want to help in some way, call Ellie at 330-274-0711.
The February 8 edition of The Villager has a nice, nice article with a gorgeous photo of the beautiful building where a lot of us got our first taste of school and another very nice picture of Ellie with one of the many charity quilts she has made. Stacy Turner did a wonderful job writing it.
If you haven't seen or missed the article, here are some borrowings from it, plus some other ideas.
Ellie has signed a contract to rent the gymnasium/annex for six Tuesdays, starting March 12, from morning to late afternoon/early evening. Actually, she has the building from 7 a.m. to midnight, but wryly said she does not expect or intend to be there all that time! From 9 a.m. until 7 or 8 p.m. sounds about right, she says.
So--what's the plan? What's happening? Well, what would you like? Ellie has a lot of community and fellowship ideas, based partly on how things have gone at the various social events at the annex so far, when people seemed to enjoy just being together there. Here are some of the possibilities: needlework, knitting, crocheting, quilting, watercolor painting, charity projects, reading to children, swapping "stuff" you don't need with someone who could use it, and on.
Gentlemen, step up and suggest things you would like to do. If it's hanging out over coffee in an airy, spacious place, here it is. Years ago, when I was looking for a way to pursue art once I retired, I tried wood carving and met with a carvers' group, most of them crusty and gray haired and fun. Do any of you do that? The carving, that is. Or something similar. For that matter, maybe you'd like to be a grandpa or uncle for a day and read to kids--or tell them stories about things you did at the same age.
Ellie said that she'd like for there to be potluck meals, too, and I bet that cookies or other goodies will just kind of show up as people begin to gather. She said that she wants it to be a gathering place, which we do not really have in the Township. Not yet, anyhow.
As Ellie and others have said, it is our building. Township residents paid for and built it nearly a hundred years ago, and we have paid for it again to buy it back from the school board even though that seemed somehow not quite right. After all, we had always supported it through the school levies for years. But that's how it is. Now, at last, it is ours again--but we need to use it and demonstrate that it is something we value and want to keep.
Details will be coming closer to the starting date. Watch The Villager, The Community Journal, and for fliers that will be put out in various public places. If you have an idea for a program or activity, or if you want to help in some way, call Ellie at 330-274-0711.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Wrap-up, Mantua Twp. Trustees 1-17-13
Blogger Foreword: Usually I do not put anything into the blog that takes place after the bills are paid. At the January 17 meeting, the trustees went into executive session to discuss various compensation and personnel matters and then reconvened. These are the motions and the slight discussion that followed reconvening.
Jason: PERS. Motion to move from Gas Tax [fund] to Road and Bridge Fund. John Festa, second.
Vote: Unanimous [Blogger--This is exactly what I copied from the recording. I will check details.]
Jason: Motion that we raise the hourly wage of Mike Richards by .90/hr.; Brian Tayerle, .60/hr.; Dan Wyznski, $1.00/hr., retroactive to the beginning of the year John Festa, second. Vote: Unanimous.
Jason then asked if everyone was comfortable with having the road crew pay 10% of their own health care costs out of pocket.
Jason: Motion to take 10% of the health care premium out of pocket to applicable participants on the health care plan. [There was a little discussion about that.] Effective date: January 31, 2013, pay. John Festa, second. Vote: Unanimous.
John Festa asked if the trustees were going to finish promoting Brian Tayerle to full Road Supervisor. Jason quibbled a little about that, and John Festa asked if it was an automatic promotion.
Vic: I don't know that I would do that at this time. He has only been in that position 4 months and part of the requirement is two years' experience.
Jason said that they needed to look at the minutes and paperwork.
Marie suggested the policy manual.
There was a little more discussion that I believe comes down to checking dates of appointment and the documentation necessary. [Blogger: It appears that Vic and Marie understand the policy, regardless of where it is recorded.]
Jason: PERS. Motion to move from Gas Tax [fund] to Road and Bridge Fund. John Festa, second.
Vote: Unanimous [Blogger--This is exactly what I copied from the recording. I will check details.]
Jason: Motion that we raise the hourly wage of Mike Richards by .90/hr.; Brian Tayerle, .60/hr.; Dan Wyznski, $1.00/hr., retroactive to the beginning of the year John Festa, second. Vote: Unanimous.
Jason then asked if everyone was comfortable with having the road crew pay 10% of their own health care costs out of pocket.
Jason: Motion to take 10% of the health care premium out of pocket to applicable participants on the health care plan. [There was a little discussion about that.] Effective date: January 31, 2013, pay. John Festa, second. Vote: Unanimous.
John Festa asked if the trustees were going to finish promoting Brian Tayerle to full Road Supervisor. Jason quibbled a little about that, and John Festa asked if it was an automatic promotion.
Vic: I don't know that I would do that at this time. He has only been in that position 4 months and part of the requirement is two years' experience.
Jason said that they needed to look at the minutes and paperwork.
Marie suggested the policy manual.
There was a little more discussion that I believe comes down to checking dates of appointment and the documentation necessary. [Blogger: It appears that Vic and Marie understand the policy, regardless of where it is recorded.]
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Public Comment, Mantua Township Trustees 1-17-13
Public Comment began at 9:02. This meeting was right after the infamous "Sound Off!" in the Record Courier.
Keith Barton had no comment.
Lynn Harvey: Normally I do not bring up anything in a public meeting that I read in the Record Courier "Sound Off!" The "Sound Off!" column is totally anonymous. Earlier in the week a comment appeared in it that I thought libeled one of our trustees, so I called to find out how they could defend running a comment like that. I asked to speak to the "Sound Off!" editor, who is anonymous. I asked to speak to Roger Dipaolo. He was not in but called back. He knew the concern and had gotten on it immediately and forwarded my concern to his boss--David Dix, the owner and publisher of the paper. He left a message [on my answering machine.] I called them back
Roger Dipaolo does not have the final edit on that and does not approve of it. As soon as he saw the comment and realized how out of line it was, he called his boss. David Dix and I had a nice conversation. He did not approve of the comment that appeared and takes full responsibility for it and it should not have appeared in print. He has the final edit on the column. The "Sound Off!" editor should have and usually does flag potentially troublesome statements. He [David Dix] said he knew it was wrong and they ran a retraction.
The damage has been done--the bell has been rung. The little electrons are running around in cyberspace in the computer. You guys were not the victim--Vic was. The way things are going anyone can crawl out from under a rock and say anything anonymously. They are total cowards, but they get away with it.
Lynn asked Jason or John Festa if they had anything to say.
John Festa: I was outraged by it. I called and asked for a written policy on "Sound Off!" The written policy is on the "Sound Off!" column. Roger Dipaolo did not return my call. I called back and they gave me his underling, and that person did not return my call. [Blogger: Eventually John Festa did talk with Roger Dipaolo and David Dix.] JF, continuing: I told him I was outraged.
I called Vic and let him know how I felt [Blogger: On the answering machine]. I think that comment was terrible. I think running it was terrible. I hope we can somehow figure out a way that we can just get this community together and stop making these comments. It could have been any one of us in this room.
[Blogger to John Festa: It has been and continues to be anyone in the hall who has not fallen into line behind the "new regime"--which is as old in its methods as Imperial Rome or Mandarin China.]
Lynn Harvey: I asked about the anonymity of "Sound Off!" and it is mostly stupid stuff that occasionally crosses the line. Both of them [Dix and Dipaolo] said that they don't approve of it either, and I asked Mr. Dix why they run it, pretty much knowing what he would say. Answer: It is so popular--which means money. So, like all media companies, they are willing to trash your reputation, claim that aliens are invading the earth and vampires walk among us because it makes them money.. They are free to say anything they
want. It is apparently going to continue.
John Festa: I assure everyone that the trustees were outraged. I did not sit on my hands and want to make it perfectly clear where I stand. [Blogger: OK, reader, by the time is all is said and done for this session, see if that statement really holds up.]
Jason: I would like to add that it was very unfortunate. [!] I don't get the paper and do not have time to read the paper. So I found out second hand. It makes people and municipalities look bad. Being elected puts a target on your back. It was uncalled for [and] it is very unfortunate that it got printed.
Faith Osborne: I was appalled and cancelled my subscription and got a letter today from David Dix. He said he was so busy he overlooked it. I don't understand how he could have overlooked it. I know of two other errors or not good reporting t hat have hurt people.
Faith concluded by repeating that she had cancelled her subscription.
Ellie Monroe and Matt Parsons: No comment.
Carole Pollard, 5359 Allyn Road: In fact the same tripe exists in this township, enshrined in what has been called the rogue website, which many people mistake for the township website. Every kind of trash and lies is on it--Marie has been accused of lies and Vic of backing her up. So this is alive and unwell right here. John Festa, your name is on that website as one of its supporters. So if you want to start trying to clean things up, you need to get your name off there.
John Festa: Carole, I have made it clear in a post on that website how I felt/feel about it. and that I want nothing to do with it.
Pollard: Then why don't we ask Brent Simon why it is still on. I want to ask--I want the trustees to ask Brent why if you have expressed your disapproval and you are a trustee, why is your name still on there? You are a trustee. That website represents you. Brent Simon is our webmaster.
John Festa: I made it clear I wanted them to take down the public comment.
[Blogger: "Sound Off!" and the rogue website alike are disgusting, and also public statements of mindlessness. In a mature society, such rot would not exist. But we do have freedom of speech, which is part of the Constitution--which all elected officials have sworn an oath to uphold. John Festa just stated that he, an elected official, asked citizens to relinquish their right to freedom of speech.]
Pollard: But your name is still on as a supporter. And you are not asking Brent Simon, either. I think it would be nice if we heard that right now from him.
At this point John Festa muttered something about not asking Brent at the moment.
Pollard: The other thing is that I talked with Roger Dipaolo also, and the "Sound Off!" editor is anonymous publicly but not in house. I believe if things are flagged they will be seen. I am not so sure that it was flagged for David Dix. If that comment was presented in the same order [to him] that it showed up[ in the paper], first on the list, if it was flagged it would have been hard to miss. I also found out that there is a phone log that shows the number that accompanies the comment. That is all that is necessaary to trace it back and find out who made it [if it is a serious enough breach]. I want that to be a matter of public warning to people who think they can say anything they please.
We have a pretty fair idea of who the usual suspects are in this township.
There is one other thing. At this point, Jason reminded me to be brief.
Kent and Kent State University have finally gotten together and worked to heal the town-gown split. They are--is everybody listening--cooperating and transforming that town. All you have to do to see what constant fighting accomplishes is to look at Africa, which is one of the richest nations on earth but is impoverished because of the fighting.
I said something further about probably not being able to heal the divide in the township, but we could shut our mouths and settle down to accomplish something.
Carol Srajer, Winchell Road: It goes without saying that I agree with what was said about the paper.
I have a question about the land that is going to be put in this program. Do you notify them before you put the names in?
Jason: There is no sense in notifying them about the pending inspection. When the inspections have been conducted, the owners will get a report. Then we are mandated to communicate with the property owner.
Carol: At that point does the owner have a chance to take care of business?
Jason: That would be a better option.
Carol then asked about going to the owner before that, including if the owner was not living in the property..
Vic: I had such a conversation with Vicki Kline. There is no guarantee that these [properties] will qualify for the money. [Blogger: I believe that Vic also said that the owner could intervene and restore the property at any time in the process. I think that is the case.]
Carol: I just wanted to know if the property owner would be notified before all of this.
Jason: They are informed in writing and also there is a public hearing. We would rather work with them to do it than force their hand.
Dave Pollard, 3692 S.R. 82: This "Sound Off!"--
Jason: We have heard it from 5-7 people this evening.
Dave: And you have sat and listened to other people go over and over the same subject and never said a word. This goes a lot further than Mantua Township if you read it.
This was done in a very unintelligent fashion. It slandered every trustee in every township and every county official. We all know it was directed at Vic and Sue because we know Sue was hired by Hiram Village.
Tell me, Jason and Mr. Festa--what is the neighboring township to Hiram Village"
Jason: Hiram Township.
Dave: Exactly. Is Vic a trustee in Hiram Township, and is Sue carrying on an affair with a Hiram Township trustee?
Jason tried to stop Dave again, saying his remarks did not have to do with township business, but Dave persisted.
Dave: Your term that it is unfortunate is a mild statement at best and completely inappropriate. It was stupidly written by a coward.
Jason: Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about it by anyone here.
[Blogger: Someone muttered under the breath, "Are you sure of that?"]
Jason continued: Lynn mentioned it is already out there.
Dave: Putting the truth out is one thing; it can be verified. Putting out a lie there is nothing that says you have to be able to prove it unless you go to court. That's the big difference between a cowardly person and a truthful one. A lie can go on and on because the process to bring that to accountability is much longer than to verify the truth.
Dan Cozzens and Mr. Zulla had no comment.
The meeting was recessed to pay the bills. There was an executive session after that. I will listen to the recording and if it seems of sufficient interest will report on what was said after the trustees came out of executive session. If it looks as if the results of the executive session will be brought up at the 2-7 meeting, I will deal with it then.
Keith Barton had no comment.
Lynn Harvey: Normally I do not bring up anything in a public meeting that I read in the Record Courier "Sound Off!" The "Sound Off!" column is totally anonymous. Earlier in the week a comment appeared in it that I thought libeled one of our trustees, so I called to find out how they could defend running a comment like that. I asked to speak to the "Sound Off!" editor, who is anonymous. I asked to speak to Roger Dipaolo. He was not in but called back. He knew the concern and had gotten on it immediately and forwarded my concern to his boss--David Dix, the owner and publisher of the paper. He left a message [on my answering machine.] I called them back
Roger Dipaolo does not have the final edit on that and does not approve of it. As soon as he saw the comment and realized how out of line it was, he called his boss. David Dix and I had a nice conversation. He did not approve of the comment that appeared and takes full responsibility for it and it should not have appeared in print. He has the final edit on the column. The "Sound Off!" editor should have and usually does flag potentially troublesome statements. He [David Dix] said he knew it was wrong and they ran a retraction.
The damage has been done--the bell has been rung. The little electrons are running around in cyberspace in the computer. You guys were not the victim--Vic was. The way things are going anyone can crawl out from under a rock and say anything anonymously. They are total cowards, but they get away with it.
Lynn asked Jason or John Festa if they had anything to say.
John Festa: I was outraged by it. I called and asked for a written policy on "Sound Off!" The written policy is on the "Sound Off!" column. Roger Dipaolo did not return my call. I called back and they gave me his underling, and that person did not return my call. [Blogger: Eventually John Festa did talk with Roger Dipaolo and David Dix.] JF, continuing: I told him I was outraged.
I called Vic and let him know how I felt [Blogger: On the answering machine]. I think that comment was terrible. I think running it was terrible. I hope we can somehow figure out a way that we can just get this community together and stop making these comments. It could have been any one of us in this room.
[Blogger to John Festa: It has been and continues to be anyone in the hall who has not fallen into line behind the "new regime"--which is as old in its methods as Imperial Rome or Mandarin China.]
Lynn Harvey: I asked about the anonymity of "Sound Off!" and it is mostly stupid stuff that occasionally crosses the line. Both of them [Dix and Dipaolo] said that they don't approve of it either, and I asked Mr. Dix why they run it, pretty much knowing what he would say. Answer: It is so popular--which means money. So, like all media companies, they are willing to trash your reputation, claim that aliens are invading the earth and vampires walk among us because it makes them money.. They are free to say anything they
want. It is apparently going to continue.
John Festa: I assure everyone that the trustees were outraged. I did not sit on my hands and want to make it perfectly clear where I stand. [Blogger: OK, reader, by the time is all is said and done for this session, see if that statement really holds up.]
Jason: I would like to add that it was very unfortunate. [!] I don't get the paper and do not have time to read the paper. So I found out second hand. It makes people and municipalities look bad. Being elected puts a target on your back. It was uncalled for [and] it is very unfortunate that it got printed.
Faith Osborne: I was appalled and cancelled my subscription and got a letter today from David Dix. He said he was so busy he overlooked it. I don't understand how he could have overlooked it. I know of two other errors or not good reporting t hat have hurt people.
Faith concluded by repeating that she had cancelled her subscription.
Ellie Monroe and Matt Parsons: No comment.
Carole Pollard, 5359 Allyn Road: In fact the same tripe exists in this township, enshrined in what has been called the rogue website, which many people mistake for the township website. Every kind of trash and lies is on it--Marie has been accused of lies and Vic of backing her up. So this is alive and unwell right here. John Festa, your name is on that website as one of its supporters. So if you want to start trying to clean things up, you need to get your name off there.
John Festa: Carole, I have made it clear in a post on that website how I felt/feel about it. and that I want nothing to do with it.
Pollard: Then why don't we ask Brent Simon why it is still on. I want to ask--I want the trustees to ask Brent why if you have expressed your disapproval and you are a trustee, why is your name still on there? You are a trustee. That website represents you. Brent Simon is our webmaster.
John Festa: I made it clear I wanted them to take down the public comment.
[Blogger: "Sound Off!" and the rogue website alike are disgusting, and also public statements of mindlessness. In a mature society, such rot would not exist. But we do have freedom of speech, which is part of the Constitution--which all elected officials have sworn an oath to uphold. John Festa just stated that he, an elected official, asked citizens to relinquish their right to freedom of speech.]
Pollard: But your name is still on as a supporter. And you are not asking Brent Simon, either. I think it would be nice if we heard that right now from him.
At this point John Festa muttered something about not asking Brent at the moment.
Pollard: The other thing is that I talked with Roger Dipaolo also, and the "Sound Off!" editor is anonymous publicly but not in house. I believe if things are flagged they will be seen. I am not so sure that it was flagged for David Dix. If that comment was presented in the same order [to him] that it showed up[ in the paper], first on the list, if it was flagged it would have been hard to miss. I also found out that there is a phone log that shows the number that accompanies the comment. That is all that is necessaary to trace it back and find out who made it [if it is a serious enough breach]. I want that to be a matter of public warning to people who think they can say anything they please.
We have a pretty fair idea of who the usual suspects are in this township.
There is one other thing. At this point, Jason reminded me to be brief.
Kent and Kent State University have finally gotten together and worked to heal the town-gown split. They are--is everybody listening--cooperating and transforming that town. All you have to do to see what constant fighting accomplishes is to look at Africa, which is one of the richest nations on earth but is impoverished because of the fighting.
I said something further about probably not being able to heal the divide in the township, but we could shut our mouths and settle down to accomplish something.
Carol Srajer, Winchell Road: It goes without saying that I agree with what was said about the paper.
I have a question about the land that is going to be put in this program. Do you notify them before you put the names in?
Jason: There is no sense in notifying them about the pending inspection. When the inspections have been conducted, the owners will get a report. Then we are mandated to communicate with the property owner.
Carol: At that point does the owner have a chance to take care of business?
Jason: That would be a better option.
Carol then asked about going to the owner before that, including if the owner was not living in the property..
Vic: I had such a conversation with Vicki Kline. There is no guarantee that these [properties] will qualify for the money. [Blogger: I believe that Vic also said that the owner could intervene and restore the property at any time in the process. I think that is the case.]
Carol: I just wanted to know if the property owner would be notified before all of this.
Jason: They are informed in writing and also there is a public hearing. We would rather work with them to do it than force their hand.
Dave Pollard, 3692 S.R. 82: This "Sound Off!"--
Jason: We have heard it from 5-7 people this evening.
Dave: And you have sat and listened to other people go over and over the same subject and never said a word. This goes a lot further than Mantua Township if you read it.
This was done in a very unintelligent fashion. It slandered every trustee in every township and every county official. We all know it was directed at Vic and Sue because we know Sue was hired by Hiram Village.
Tell me, Jason and Mr. Festa--what is the neighboring township to Hiram Village"
Jason: Hiram Township.
Dave: Exactly. Is Vic a trustee in Hiram Township, and is Sue carrying on an affair with a Hiram Township trustee?
Jason tried to stop Dave again, saying his remarks did not have to do with township business, but Dave persisted.
Dave: Your term that it is unfortunate is a mild statement at best and completely inappropriate. It was stupidly written by a coward.
Jason: Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about it by anyone here.
[Blogger: Someone muttered under the breath, "Are you sure of that?"]
Jason continued: Lynn mentioned it is already out there.
Dave: Putting the truth out is one thing; it can be verified. Putting out a lie there is nothing that says you have to be able to prove it unless you go to court. That's the big difference between a cowardly person and a truthful one. A lie can go on and on because the process to bring that to accountability is much longer than to verify the truth.
Dan Cozzens and Mr. Zulla had no comment.
The meeting was recessed to pay the bills. There was an executive session after that. I will listen to the recording and if it seems of sufficient interest will report on what was said after the trustees came out of executive session. If it looks as if the results of the executive session will be brought up at the 2-7 meeting, I will deal with it then.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Mantua Township Trustees 1-17-13
Blogger Foreword: This set of posts will be more condensed than usual in some areas, I hope. As usual, the official record of the meetings is the minutes after they have been reviewed, corrected, and signed.
Second Foreword: There was a Mexican standoff about a phone and the long-term 995 township number and where that phone should be/ring. I have not added any editorial comment about that because the issue was mentioned in public comment. And, if you are reading top down, you already know what that comment was. Why it was made is at the end of this post.
Vic, who is handling zoning until a new inspector can be hired, reported that the zoning phone number has been forwarded to his township numberand that the phone can be hardwired into the school building at almost no cost because it is a business phone. The records and filing cabinets will be moved into the school building.
Brian Tayerle reported that the old dump bed had brought in $400 for scrap. The crew is working on some equipment in the garage, and Brian thanked Two Ladies Express and Brugmann's for the loan of some specialty tools.
Garden Club: Officers for the coming year are Martha Levine, President; Anita Vechery, Vice President; Wendolyn [I apologize for missing the last name], Secretary; and Shirley Ferris, Treasurer. Meetings will be March, April, May, and September, October, November. The plant sale for June will go on as usual. Sue Skrovan, who was reporting, also talked with the Trustees about the customary 50-50 split of expenses for replacement Christmas decorations, which the Garden Club usually looks for on sale. The cost this year would be about $80.00. The trustees agreed that was acceptable.
Chamber of Commerce, John Festa: Shalersville is having a bingo and meal night on the second Monday of each month. The DMRC is approved to revitalize the flagpole in the village.
New Business and Trustees:
Jason's report on the land bank was moved to Old Business.
John Festa commented on the inventory report and that the ORC stipulates that the inventory should be done on the second Monday of each year for all supplies, etc. The report becomes a public record filed with the county engineer, among others. John Festa was concerned that last year the inventory was not done until August and wanted it done on time.
Also, there is a Bureau of Workmen's Compensation workshop on February 12 that he wanted to attend, it having been mentioned by the speaker at the last Chamber of Commerce meeting.
There was some discussion about the Portage County Waste Management tire-reclaim program, which the Township has always helped out with.
Old Business:
The land bank progress and next steps were reviewed. The process is a series of steps that includes checking the ORC and involving the Fire Department, Health Department, and Building Department to evaluate the properties under consideration.
As reported previously, the land bank money will demolish existing structures and put a lien on the property, the money to be replenished when the property is sold. Mobile homes cannot be handled the same way, however, because the property is not owned by the mobile home owner. Thus, the process for a mobile home marked for demolition is different than for regular houses.
At the last meeting a question had been raised about whether, if a property had been condemned but the money is not used, are we tied into it? According to Chris Meduri, no. Also, a public hearing on the trustees' intentions must be held. Properties drop off the list every day, so the amount of money keeps changing.
One of the houses on the original list in the Township is the one adjacent to the Township building parking lot. The owners are working on it and are going to get painting bids. Jason said he had not created a document for that property anyhow.
Each property requires its own separate resolution, and each had to be read aloud. That was done and the resolutions were signed.
Vic: Made some small changes to the cemetery sexton's job description, and after making s small textual change, Jason made a motion to adopt the revised job description. Seconded and passed.
Health Insurance: The discussion to date has involved only the road crew because changes cannot be made to the elected officers' coverage during a term. [Blogger: I learned subsequently that further discussion had been taken into executive session. I assume that the results of that discussion, since spending Township/public money is involved, will become public. It will be reported on in the blog for the next meeting.]
At the moment, Vic said that he wanted more time (only a week had passed since the issue had been raised) to review the idea and to examine how the Township's fiscal position would be affected with a give-back and a raise, which is coming.
John Festa pointed out that we are not the only entity thinking of changing how health insurance is being handled. He also said that he is considering taking part in our benefits package but has not made the decision yet.
Marie asked if anyone had talked to Chris Meduri about a possible discrimination factor, with some paying full price (elected officers) and some not, under this potential plan.
Jason wanted to take a look at that at the next meeting and added that there were applications for both the sexton and zoning inspector to review this evening, probably in executive session.
That brought up the zoning issue of the property at 4781 S.R. 82, which is pretty much paved with vehicles. This is a zoning violation, and although the issue was been addressed by a letter to the owner in September, the property is still not in compliance. Chris Meduri recommends a short, to-the-point resolution authorizing the Portage County Prosecutor to take appropriate legal action.
Jason made that resolution; John Festa seconded; unanimous.
Updates, Center School building and Township Hall:
John Festa: Asked for the trustees' thoughts on having the road crew removing the shutters from the cupola and covering the windows up there with some plywood. John Festa thought that water is getting in up there and is getting worse.
Vic: I have pictures. Most of them [windows] are covered. The shutters are covered on the inside. About 75% of them are covered.
John Festa: There was two parts to that--one was to begin to repair the shutters by getting them down and the other was to prepare to begin work in the spring. I do not want to lose sight of the Town Hall.
Jason acknowledged a previous discussion on that topic, and Vic recommended taking down four at a time, partly to avoid having to cut a lot of plywood.
John Festa had one more thing, about the 995-2640 phone number. That has been a township number for a long time, and he thought it belongs in the Fiscal Officer's office at the school.
Jason thought that all sounded reasonable, and that the Township will pay for it in the Township facility.
Marie: Each of you has a number that you use for Township work. That number is what I use at my home.
John Festa: I want to move it.
Marie: Chris Meduri said it can stay.
John Festa: That is our number, not Chris Meduri's.
Marie: I will have two phones ringing at the school and nothing at home.
[Jason went into the details, and your blogger's eyes glazed over.]
Marie, undaunted: If it rings at my house, I can get it. I am there most of the time. When I am in the office, I can get it there.
John Festa: My intention from the beginning was to move the phone to the school. He asked for his memory to be refreshed on that point.
Marie: We discussed this when we began talking about moving the offices. She pointed out tjhat she was planning on payinf for that number herself.
Jason thought that they had to plan for the future. The 995 number is for the fiscal officer. If Marie is paying for it herself, it is her number.
[Blogger: I do not know for sure who made this next comment; in context, it sounds like John Festa.] I understand what you are saying, but I don't know how much activity there is. There is no phone log and I think I should know what is going on on that phone. I have never been forwarded any messages from that number.
Marie: I get calls from residents all the time.
John Festa: Where does something for a trustee go?
Marie pointed out that she gives possible vendors all three numbers.
Jason asked if John Festa would be willing to investigate further.
John Festa: I would be willing to let it go for another meet ing. What if I asked for the phone company to provide me with a log of t he incoming calls.
Marie: I don't see why my phone needs to be monitored.
John Festa: It is not your phone. It is a township phone. He wanted a log.
Public Comment was next and began at 9:02 p.m.
Second Foreword: There was a Mexican standoff about a phone and the long-term 995 township number and where that phone should be/ring. I have not added any editorial comment about that because the issue was mentioned in public comment. And, if you are reading top down, you already know what that comment was. Why it was made is at the end of this post.
Vic, who is handling zoning until a new inspector can be hired, reported that the zoning phone number has been forwarded to his township numberand that the phone can be hardwired into the school building at almost no cost because it is a business phone. The records and filing cabinets will be moved into the school building.
Brian Tayerle reported that the old dump bed had brought in $400 for scrap. The crew is working on some equipment in the garage, and Brian thanked Two Ladies Express and Brugmann's for the loan of some specialty tools.
Garden Club: Officers for the coming year are Martha Levine, President; Anita Vechery, Vice President; Wendolyn [I apologize for missing the last name], Secretary; and Shirley Ferris, Treasurer. Meetings will be March, April, May, and September, October, November. The plant sale for June will go on as usual. Sue Skrovan, who was reporting, also talked with the Trustees about the customary 50-50 split of expenses for replacement Christmas decorations, which the Garden Club usually looks for on sale. The cost this year would be about $80.00. The trustees agreed that was acceptable.
Chamber of Commerce, John Festa: Shalersville is having a bingo and meal night on the second Monday of each month. The DMRC is approved to revitalize the flagpole in the village.
New Business and Trustees:
Jason's report on the land bank was moved to Old Business.
John Festa commented on the inventory report and that the ORC stipulates that the inventory should be done on the second Monday of each year for all supplies, etc. The report becomes a public record filed with the county engineer, among others. John Festa was concerned that last year the inventory was not done until August and wanted it done on time.
Also, there is a Bureau of Workmen's Compensation workshop on February 12 that he wanted to attend, it having been mentioned by the speaker at the last Chamber of Commerce meeting.
There was some discussion about the Portage County Waste Management tire-reclaim program, which the Township has always helped out with.
Old Business:
The land bank progress and next steps were reviewed. The process is a series of steps that includes checking the ORC and involving the Fire Department, Health Department, and Building Department to evaluate the properties under consideration.
As reported previously, the land bank money will demolish existing structures and put a lien on the property, the money to be replenished when the property is sold. Mobile homes cannot be handled the same way, however, because the property is not owned by the mobile home owner. Thus, the process for a mobile home marked for demolition is different than for regular houses.
At the last meeting a question had been raised about whether, if a property had been condemned but the money is not used, are we tied into it? According to Chris Meduri, no. Also, a public hearing on the trustees' intentions must be held. Properties drop off the list every day, so the amount of money keeps changing.
One of the houses on the original list in the Township is the one adjacent to the Township building parking lot. The owners are working on it and are going to get painting bids. Jason said he had not created a document for that property anyhow.
Each property requires its own separate resolution, and each had to be read aloud. That was done and the resolutions were signed.
Vic: Made some small changes to the cemetery sexton's job description, and after making s small textual change, Jason made a motion to adopt the revised job description. Seconded and passed.
Health Insurance: The discussion to date has involved only the road crew because changes cannot be made to the elected officers' coverage during a term. [Blogger: I learned subsequently that further discussion had been taken into executive session. I assume that the results of that discussion, since spending Township/public money is involved, will become public. It will be reported on in the blog for the next meeting.]
At the moment, Vic said that he wanted more time (only a week had passed since the issue had been raised) to review the idea and to examine how the Township's fiscal position would be affected with a give-back and a raise, which is coming.
John Festa pointed out that we are not the only entity thinking of changing how health insurance is being handled. He also said that he is considering taking part in our benefits package but has not made the decision yet.
Marie asked if anyone had talked to Chris Meduri about a possible discrimination factor, with some paying full price (elected officers) and some not, under this potential plan.
Jason wanted to take a look at that at the next meeting and added that there were applications for both the sexton and zoning inspector to review this evening, probably in executive session.
That brought up the zoning issue of the property at 4781 S.R. 82, which is pretty much paved with vehicles. This is a zoning violation, and although the issue was been addressed by a letter to the owner in September, the property is still not in compliance. Chris Meduri recommends a short, to-the-point resolution authorizing the Portage County Prosecutor to take appropriate legal action.
Jason made that resolution; John Festa seconded; unanimous.
Updates, Center School building and Township Hall:
John Festa: Asked for the trustees' thoughts on having the road crew removing the shutters from the cupola and covering the windows up there with some plywood. John Festa thought that water is getting in up there and is getting worse.
Vic: I have pictures. Most of them [windows] are covered. The shutters are covered on the inside. About 75% of them are covered.
John Festa: There was two parts to that--one was to begin to repair the shutters by getting them down and the other was to prepare to begin work in the spring. I do not want to lose sight of the Town Hall.
Jason acknowledged a previous discussion on that topic, and Vic recommended taking down four at a time, partly to avoid having to cut a lot of plywood.
John Festa had one more thing, about the 995-2640 phone number. That has been a township number for a long time, and he thought it belongs in the Fiscal Officer's office at the school.
Jason thought that all sounded reasonable, and that the Township will pay for it in the Township facility.
Marie: Each of you has a number that you use for Township work. That number is what I use at my home.
John Festa: I want to move it.
Marie: Chris Meduri said it can stay.
John Festa: That is our number, not Chris Meduri's.
Marie: I will have two phones ringing at the school and nothing at home.
[Jason went into the details, and your blogger's eyes glazed over.]
Marie, undaunted: If it rings at my house, I can get it. I am there most of the time. When I am in the office, I can get it there.
John Festa: My intention from the beginning was to move the phone to the school. He asked for his memory to be refreshed on that point.
Marie: We discussed this when we began talking about moving the offices. She pointed out tjhat she was planning on payinf for that number herself.
Jason thought that they had to plan for the future. The 995 number is for the fiscal officer. If Marie is paying for it herself, it is her number.
[Blogger: I do not know for sure who made this next comment; in context, it sounds like John Festa.] I understand what you are saying, but I don't know how much activity there is. There is no phone log and I think I should know what is going on on that phone. I have never been forwarded any messages from that number.
Marie: I get calls from residents all the time.
John Festa: Where does something for a trustee go?
Marie pointed out that she gives possible vendors all three numbers.
Jason asked if John Festa would be willing to investigate further.
John Festa: I would be willing to let it go for another meet ing. What if I asked for the phone company to provide me with a log of t he incoming calls.
Marie: I don't see why my phone needs to be monitored.
John Festa: It is not your phone. It is a township phone. He wanted a log.
Public Comment was next and began at 9:02 p.m.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Bookending the Fiscal Officer's Job
At the beginning of this set of posts about the Fiscal Officer's job, the intention was to excerpt some things from the auditor's report for 2010 and 2011. However, it makes more sense simply to refer anyone who is interested to the website for the Auditor of the State of Ohio. The reports for those two years run to 60 pages, total, a fair amount of which is description of the procedures used. That may be of less interest than the "bottom line," and that is in quotes simply because it has become a colloquial kind of shorthand for results.
Here are the results of the wisdom of electing Marie Stehli as the Fiscal Officer for our township.
Marie has never missed a regularly scheduled Mantua Township Trustees meeting in 21 years.
She missed only one Fire Board meeting while she was the clerk for that board. The day of the meeting, she had everything done and ready to go when she received a call that her father was dying. She turned everything over to Giles Seith and left to be with her father and family.
Marie has never had a bad audit. Period.
She is also sanctioned by the State of Ohio as a visiting clerk and listed on the offcial website. What that means is that other fiscal officers who have questions or feel in over their heads on something--or maybe didn't realize what was really involved when they ran for the office--can call Marie. She is the only such designated person in this area.
Here are the results of the wisdom of electing Marie Stehli as the Fiscal Officer for our township.
Marie has never missed a regularly scheduled Mantua Township Trustees meeting in 21 years.
She missed only one Fire Board meeting while she was the clerk for that board. The day of the meeting, she had everything done and ready to go when she received a call that her father was dying. She turned everything over to Giles Seith and left to be with her father and family.
Marie has never had a bad audit. Period.
She is also sanctioned by the State of Ohio as a visiting clerk and listed on the offcial website. What that means is that other fiscal officers who have questions or feel in over their heads on something--or maybe didn't realize what was really involved when they ran for the office--can call Marie. She is the only such designated person in this area.
Friday, February 1, 2013
State Auditor's Management Letter
Blogger Foreword: On May 31, 2012, the Trustees and Fiscal Officer met with the audit team (a public meeting, advertised as prescribed by law) for the team's report on the Township's accounting practices.
The team's management letter (below) for 2010 and 2011 is dated June 19, 2012. It is quoted in its entirety, including the cover page. The format of the blog may not match that of the letter, but the content is verbatim (with possible typos that your blogger and Spellcheck may not have caught.)
The team's management letter (below) for 2010 and 2011 is dated June 19, 2012. It is quoted in its entirety, including the cover page. The format of the blog may not match that of the letter, but the content is verbatim (with possible typos that your blogger and Spellcheck may not have caught.)
MANTUA TOWNSHIP
PORTAGE COUNTY, OHIO
MANAGEMENT LETTER
FOR THE YEARS ENDED
DECEMBER 31, 2011 AND 2010
James G. Zupka, CPA, Inc.
Certified Public Accountants
_________________________________
MANAGEMENT LETTER
To the Board of Trustees
Mantua Township
Portage County, Ohio
In accordance with Government Auditing Standards applicable to financial audits, we have audited the basic financial statements of the Mantua Township, Ohio (the "Township"), as of and for the years ended December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010, and have issued our report thereon dated June 19, 2012.
Government Auditing Standards also require that we describe the scope of our testing of compliance with laws and regulations and internal control over financial reporting and report any irregularities, illegal acts, other material noncompliance, and significant deficiencies in the internal controls. We have issued a report dated June 10, 2012, on compliance and internal control over financial reporting required by Government Auditing Standards as of and for the years ended December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010.
We are also submitting for your consideration the following comments on the District's compliance with applicable laws and regulations and on its internal controls. These comments reflect matters that, while in our opinion do not represent material instances of noncompliance or significant deficiencies in internal control, we believe represents [sic] matters for which improvement in compliance or internal control or operational efficiency might be achieved. Due to the limited nature of our audit, we have not fully assessed t he cost-benefit relationship of implementing the recommendations suggested below. However, these comments reflect our continuing desire to assist your government. If you have any questions or concerns regarding these comments, please do not hesitate to contact us.
_________________________________
1. Leave Time Requests
During our testing of leave time, we noted that Township employees do not submit requests for leave time two (2) weeks in advance, as required per Township policy.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Township employees comply with policy and submit written request for leave two (2) weeks in advance.
2. Security Procedures
During our testing of expenses and insurance, we noted that employees of the Township do not secure the maintenance garage area when performing work off-site. As a result, there have been multiple break-ins and small equipment items were stolen.
[Blogger: At a previous Trustees meeting that included discussion about keys to the Fiscal Officer's office in the Administrative (school) Building, a suggestion was floated that perhaps a key could be placed in the Township garage.]
Recommendation
We recommend that the Township review its current procedures and implement additional security procedures to secure its equipment.
3. Financial Records Location
During our fieldwork, we noted that some of the Township records are kept in private homes.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Township records be stored in a secured environment in buildings owned by the Township.
4. Certificate of Estimated Resources
During our budgetary testing, we noted minor variances between the original Certificate of Estimated Resources and the amount reported in the financial statement.
Recommendation
We recommend the Township utilize the original Certificate of Estimated Resources when preparing their financial statements.
Should you have any questions regarding the above matters or should you desire our assistance in their implementation, we would be pleased to discuss these with you at your convenience.
We take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the cooperation and assistance of the management and staff of Mantua township to our representatives during the course of our review.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of management and the members of the Township Trustees and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties.
The letter is signed by Mr. Zupka, Certified Public Accountant, and dated June 19, 2012.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)