Trustees June 20, 2013

Blogger Foreword:  It has been a busy couple of weeks, and the next trustees meeting is two days early because of the holiday.  The meeting will be on July 2 at 7:30 at the Mantua Township Hall.  In light of the short time between this post (Friday 6/28) and the meeting, I will try to condense.  It was a short meeting, fortunately: I could get to like basketball, if the reason for the brevity was the last game of the playoffs.  :-))

The trustees reviewed three sets of minutes:  for the regular meeting on June 6, 2013; for the special meeting on June 10, 2013 (a huge post has been put up for that meeting); and for the budget hearing on June 17.  I was not at that meeting, and since I know my notes on finances are flawed, it will be best if you check the township website for the minutes of that meeting.  It takes a while to get those up sometimes, but those are the official record .   mantuatownshipohio.gov     (I think that's right.  If you get something that does not end in .gov, it is not the official site, no matter how good it may look.)

The Chamber of Commerce was thanked for donating $200 towards the flower baskets.

Jason briefly mentioned that a letter from Senator John Ecklund was in the correspondence book.  That letter is the post just before this one.

Vic presented a packet of petitions regarding the location of the veterans' memorial bearing 79 signatures.  He gave them to Marie and asked her to make copies.

Jason had a couple of other things to go into the correspondence book.

There was discussion about the mileage turned in by Zoning Inspector Tierney Bryant:  somewhat over 600 miles for a 3-1/2 month period.  She is required to cover one fourth of the township each month.  The township contains 37 miles of township roads and 50 for Portage County.  Jason was concerned because it looks, from the report, as if Tierney is driving the entire township each week.  John Vechery had averaged about 350-380 miles per report.
Marie pointed out that John had said that he did not turn in all of his miles each month.

 There was some  more discussion about the mileage, and also there had been two requests from residents for zoning books.

Marie pointed out that the whole book is online, and Dawn Pechman is always talking about being in the 21st century, and she could get it on line.  [Blogger:  I have to infer from that comment that Ms. Pechman is one of the requesters, but neither was identified specifically.]

There were no reports from the Zoning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, or Cemetery Sexton.

Road Department:  Brian Tayerle, despite having told John Festa that he would be there, was absent.

Crack seal work had begun, and work in Olde Taylor Woods had begun the previous day.

John Festa presented a copy of the culvert work and talked a bit about the cost.  Some of the culvert work may not be done because this project has been cut back.  [Blogger:  I will try to remember to check about why it has been cut back.]

Jason thought the first priority was to do the chip and seal and thought the first pass at that was complete.

Club and Committee Reports:  Nothing from either the Garden Club or the Ladies Cemetery Association.

Chamber of Commerce:  John Festa reported that there was nothing eventful.  Chamber is considering, I believe at John Festa's initiation, a policy that will define criteria for Chamber's donations to organizations.

Marie Stehli  added that the Chamber of Commerce golf outing was a success and turned a $4,000 profit.  The golf outing funds the scholarships that the Chamber awards.  Jason had attended  and thought it was well done.  [Nothing eventful?]

New Business:  Jason had talked to Todd Lamb (sp?) about Olde Taylor Woods and reported that Todd had turned in an equipment bid to Brian Tayerle and Brian had turned it in with the bills.

Marie remarked that bids are supposed to come to a certain [single, specific] location so we don't have this problem.

Jason:  I told Brian to be sure it got to you.  He had one in his hand for May 1.
Marie:  I never got it.

Jason read from the quote and remarked that it seemed as if there was some miscommunication in getting it in.  Jason thought that the bid could be accepted or rejected.

Vic:  I can not accept this.  We ran the ad twice and it did not come in either time.

[Blogger:  I do not know for sure who made this next comment]:  Unfortunately, there was a mixup.  I think we will just have to pull it out.
John Festa:  I think it is unfortunate that this did not go through.  I do knot know the legalities of this and would like to talk to Chris Meduri.  Then I would like to give an answer to Todd Lamb.

[Blogger:  At the meeting when equipment bids were to be opened, no bids had been turned in.  I have not checked the date of that meeting, but it is perhaps mid April.  Subsequently, there was mention of it in public comment recently.  The title of that post includes "Blunt comments in Public Comment" and remarks on that
issue--in case you have not been reading every deathless word in the blog but now would like to check.]

[The following brief addition completes a section of the meeting and ends this post, which had been incomplete.] .

The next item was something that Jason said should have been under Old Business, but he didn't put it there.  The topic was a rental policy for not for profit organizations using township buildings.  Jason said he had a better draft policy than at the last meeting.

1.  In order to be considered, a request must be from one of the following:  a resident holding an event open to all residents, Monday through Thursday. 
2.  May not hold fund raising or politically motivated events.
3.  Trustees reserve the right to refuse any and all requests and reserve the right to determine the building.  (The Civic Center is excluded.)
4.  Requests must come before the trustees.

Comments:
Vic:  All we can do is try it and see how it works.  Any time you try to make rules or regulations, something always falls outside the box.

John Festa asked about fund raising and potluck:   How do we police that?
 [Blogger:  John Festa still does not understand that The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., has always rented the annex and has always declared what each event was for.  Also, since the restoration  society is working towards 501 c 3 status, and the steering committee understands quite, quite clearly that such organizations are prohibited from political activity, John Festa's concern in that regard is unfounded in fact.] 

Vic added that there is a charge for fund raisers in the already published fee schedule.  There was a little more discussion, in which John Festa asked if this new policy had been run past Chris Meduri. 
Jason commented that he had thought it was just a simple policy, and Vic advised just making a copy and attaching it to the rules.

On a vote, it passed all three trustees.

Senator Eklund's Letter re Nat'l Register

[Blogger:  Since it was mentioned in the previous blog and in the presentation of our nomination of the school to the National Register of Historic Places, I thought you might want to see what State Senator John Eklund said in support of our building.  No other nomination had an endorsement from a legislator.

[Clearly, informed people understand that our school is something of value, worth preserving.]

June 13, 2013

Susan M. Tietz, National Register and Survey Manager
Inventory and Registration
Ohio Historical Society
800 East 17th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43211

Re:  Mantua Center School, 11741 Mantua Center Road,  Mantua, Portage County

Dear Ms. Tietz,

Please accept this letter as my expression of unqualified support for the nomination of Mantua Center School to the National Register of Historic Places.

This school building's broad historical significance lies partly in its having been constructed in 1914.  As you know, that was just a few years after the horrors of the Collinwood school fire in Cuyahoga County in which 175 people, mostly children, were killed.  It was an era of great reform in America, and the Collinwood fire and others led to a national drive to upgrade the safety of public buildings and particularly schools.  Previous schools for Mantua had been of the "one room" type.  So, when the Mantua Center School was built to house all grades, the community seized the opportunity to incorporate design features to help avoid the horrors of Collinwood.  Cement replaced wood, outward-swinging fire doors with crash bar latches replaced inward-swinging doors with standard doorknobs; even the roof was made of cement.  In this sense, the Mantua Center School became a landmark facility marking an important step in the historical evolution of public safety.

The people of Mantua take great pride in their historic past, and have shown an earnest desire and ability to preserve and honor it.  Their Town Hall, Civic Center, and Public Square (and the two private homes nearby), dating from the 1840's, form a central theme for the community, and I am confident that the citizens of Mantua Township will continue to embrace and cherish the heritage of the Mantua Center School, and what it stands for, forever into the future.

I urge the Advisory Board to act favorably on this nomination.

Respectfully submited,

Signature of Senator Eklund

John Eklund
18th Senate District

cc:  Marie Stehli-Mantua Township Fiscal Officer


Senator Ecklund is chair of the Criminal Justice Committee, vice-chair of the Commerce and Labor Committee, and sits on the following committees:  Civil Justice, Energy and Natural Resources, Public Utilities, Ways and Means, Finance Sub-Committee, and General Government. 

Our National Register Saga

It's probably a good thing that Linda Ehlert and Terri Vechery didn't know what was involved in getting a place nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.  Full of beginners' enthusiasm, they did the research, took pictures, wrote it all up and sent it off.

Then we got THE LETTER.  That's what the professional historic preservation consultants call it.  Everybody gets one after that first submission.  What THE LETTER does is tell the writer(s) what to do to strengthen the nomination.  We didn't learn that until a lot later.

Thanks to Linda, who met Christie Borkan at a Mantua Historical Society program, we found our angel, and she and Linda and Terri got us to Columbus last Friday, June 21--an auspicious day, as a friend told me. 

We had no idea how big and serious historic preservation is until we sat down and listened to the Ohio Historical Society staff and the review board introduce themselves.  The governor-appointed board members include, among  the backgrounds listed in the previous post, the mayor of Somerset, Ohio, which has an amazing courthouse and a wonderful monument in the middle of its central traffic circle (I think that memory is correct); the retired curator of the Ohio History Museum; someone from ODOT (bridges and other structures can gain National Register status, which explains the push to save Ravenna's flagpole); the Executive Director of Main Street Wooster; an archaeologist (surely almost everyone in Ohio has seen an aerial view of Serpent Mound, and if you haven't, go Google it); and a younger man with some very unusual tattoos who introduced himself as from near Toledo, working, among other activities, with tribal councils in the western part of the state.  That explained the tattoos.

We were the last of the eight nominations to be considered.  Here's how it works:  A staff person reads a summary of the property nominated and identifies the category or categories in which approval is sought.  There are four, but I only remember three:  Architecture, History, Culture, and ?  Maybe Archaeology.  Then the presenter goes through a slide show of the significant aspects of the building, starting with each elevation.  You think we had trailers?  Ha!  The ones at the Center looked like House and Garden compared with the herd of them outside one building.  There are also  photos of significant parts of the inside.

We had seen seven presentations, some of them very impressive, including the Goodyear building in Akron, so even with a good presenter we were apprehensive.  We--our building, which looks so beautiful to so many of us--looked small and thin by comparison.

But--we had something (two somethings, really) that no one else did:  106 letters of support from the public for the nomination of the building, and a letter from State Senator John Ecklund giving his unqualified support for the  nomination.  When the presenter mentioned the 106 letters, a ripple of something went through the board, apparently because that either almost never happens or had never happened in their experience.  And no one else had an endorsement from a legislator.

Our building matters.

The review board can and does ask questions of either the preparer.  Earlier, one nomination had been questioned really hard, and the voice vote was mixed.  When hands were shown, there were six nays and only three ayes.

The Goodyear nomination got no questions on the nomination, but only about what happened to the plant during the 1913 flood, and that preparer was complimented on the quality of the nomination package.

One question was asked about the school, and that was about the roof.  Vic answered that beautifully, and then it was time for the vote to approve. Or not.

Approval was unanimous, and Sue Skrovan and I were both in tears.

Just for the record, as stated in the Record Courier, John Festa went.  So did Christie Borkan, Vic and Sue, and Linda Ehlert, Terri Vechery, and I.  Seven of us--the largest group there in support.  Next was a wonderful group also working to save their school from demolition:  the Green Township School in Smithville, Wayne County.  They created a whole historical preservation society to save their school and use it for the community.  So we have company.



The nominations that received suggestions/requirements for improvement have two weeks for revision, and then the seven approved nominations will go to The National Park Service in Washington, D.C.  The NPS has 45 days in which to review and pass judgment.  Usually a nomination that is approved at the state level is also accepted at the national level.  So we are hopeful, but not celebrating very much yet.  Oh--our nomination was approved exactly as submitted.

It truly was an auspicious day.

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!!!!!

The Mantua Center School Building's nomination to the National Register of Historic Places was approved at the state level by the advisory board, a group of engineers, historians, architects, developers, and historic preservation specialists appointed by the governor.

We have one more step in the process:  The batch of seven accepted nominations will be sent to The National Park Service in Washington, D.C., for final review and decision.  We were told that approval by the state historical society usually means acceptance at the national level as well.

S0--Come to see Sojer Boys, eat cookies and ice cream, and celebrate on Saturday, June 22, starting at 5 p.m. at the Mantua Center School building.  Video at 7.

Your blogger is not up for a full-court press, razzle-dazzle post right now, but stay tuned for what the review was like and what doors are now opening for us.

6-10-13: Special Mtg. re School "feasibility study"

Jason Carlton called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m., announcing that the meeting was a trustees' workshop.  [These workshops are somewhat less formal than regular meetings, with public comment being accepted at various times and with more than one opportunity per person to comment.]

Jason asked if one of the trustees would care to begin.

John Festa:  I think everyone would agree we have reached a cross road with the school.  We need to come up with a solution about how to utilize the school and how to pay for it.

I can speak for myself--there is a lot of misinformation.  [Blogger:  Yes, and John Festa and his manager Larry Leitzow have been major purveyors of it.]  I want to make it public that I think the school for our township offices, retail space, and community use is something I would like to see.  However, I do not want to see it to the point that we are going to put the township finances in jeopardy.  [Blogger:  The state of the township finances is already in jeopardy, and not because of spending on the school.]

We have to figure out how we are going to pay for this.  We are 9 years and some months into the project.   We need to come to an agreement about how to use it.

[Fact check:  The trustees got the keys to the school in August 2004.  No blueprints were available at that time, possibly because of the 90 years that had elapsed since the building's construction.  Between 2004 and June 2006, the blueprints and construction of the building had to be re-created by measuring everything and doing research, essentially a reverse engineering process.  Nothing could be submitted to Portage County until the blueprints had been made and stamped as official.  I (blogger) have also heard that one of the roadblocks was a piece of red tape:  that there was no "proof" --never mind 90 years of class photos--that the building had been a school.

[In June 2009 Steve Oros, trustee, was diagnosed as terminally ill; he died in October 2009, which meant that by and large two trustees (Vic Grimm and Mark Hall) were picking up an additional load.

 [Jason Carlton was elected in 2009; Mark Hall was chosen as Steve's successor by Steve's succession committee; and Jason promptly, upon being sworn in, reversed his campaign position about getting us into the school.  That reversal is a matter of public record which need not be detailed here.  Before the 2009 election, a number of us wished progress were quicker; upon Jason's being seated at the front table, progress slowed to a crawl.  All of that can be documented.]

[Blogger:  John Festa's statement above is essentially the same kind of spin and inaccuracy that has been part and parcel of his term and his supporters' claims starting in summer 2011 if not before.  Accuracy has taken a fatal beating at his and their hands.] 

John Festa, continuing:  The feasibility study is a start and the trustees need to make a stand that we are going to go forward wit h a new approach to fixing it and using it.  [Note: New?  The proposal for the feasibility study is 10 years old and predates the purchase of the school.  See  previous posts about that.]

Jason:  I would agree.  Everyone has heard it for the past 9 years.  What is the approach this week or tomorrow?  [Blogger:  Vic's approach has never wavered.  Jason's is the flavor of the week--again, not to be documented here, but fully capable of documentation.]
The message has never been exactly clear.  As trustees we are not project managers or experts in organizing people to renovate buildings.  The Crestwood School District is an example.  They hired a firm to come in and give their opinions about what they wanted to see in a superintendent.  The information was polled and taken back to the board.  The group [the firm referred to above, probably] oversaw the process.   The point [is] that they did not do it on their own.  The similarity here is that we have a big task and the decision is important.
I could not do it on my own and I don't think the trustees could do it either.  Doing it right costs money.  I don't know what a facilitator would cost but we need . . . [one?]
When the building was purchased in 2003-2004  [?!], it was thought it would be business, general purpose, and office space.  As time goes by, things need to be revisited.  Originally RP Architects gave a proposal for a feasibility study.  The decision was not to go forward with them.  It was going to cost $19,500.  It would be two parts:  a study of the existing building and also the public process, with the end state goal of getting the community involved and [RP ? would] oversee it.
The main goal would be a passage of a levy or bond issue for renovation.  You need to have a plan . . . .  having a group of folks.  The trustees have been the ones who have been going to come up with a plan, but if you are going to spend a lot of money to do the renovations, public input is necessary.  I can not answer that fort the public.
We need an entity that can provide us guidance.  When RP Architects came aboard they had a lot of information.  We already have a lot of what was in their study.  That would not need to be reduplicated.  The depth and detail proposed in 2003 have in some cases already been done.  In their study one of the bullet points is what is important about the public process.  This is the public's project, not the trustees or architects.

Steps:  
1.  Establish a building committee.  The principles and points of the study would not change.  The information that comes back could change.  Various things change, including technology.  I talked to a couple of different entities,  Brad, at the Portage County Board of Elections, for one, about funding and levies, and he gave some general ideas.  They can not provide any type of advice because that borders on legal advice.  In 3-4 years there he has never seen a bond issue go on the ballot.
Chris Meduri is going to review bonds but would give us a fast look at our options.  We don't know how much money it will take to renovate the building.

Suffield put a bond issue on for the fire station, and Chris Meduri was going to review what that took.
To Marie:  This is probably a question for you:  What about a lease purchase extension with the revenue for the building to pay it off?

Marie:  The lease purchase will be paid off next May.  I do not know if it is extendable.  I was also told that townships can not borrow.  We need to look at who actually has ownership of the building and who owns the land.

Jason, [I believe] resuming:  The filing deadline for this is out of the question in my mind.  It is August 7.  You can not just file--there is a whole process with stages.  There is a cost associated with that.  A special  election with only one item has a very high cost. In an odd year the cost is higher because there are no federal people or issues on the ballot.
We need to see about getting a group of folks together to oversee this.

Vic:  You pretty much covered what I talked about with Chris Meduri.  When we did the land use plan, we hired a consultant and we all put names into a hat and the consultant interviewed them and put the committee together.
Continuing:  Also, we do not have the funds to work on this building [the Township Hall] or the Civic Center.  I think we should see if we can turn it all together and maybe include the parks.

Jason: They are not getting any cheaper to maintain.  We put a lot of money into these buildings even with minor repairs.

Vic:  One of the biggest things that has hurt us is the reduction in our local government funds from the state.

Marie:  It was $62,000 and next year it will be $26,000.  We have had some pretty hefty estate tax windfalls.  In some years we did not have any, but also had to give money back.

There was consensus that every township has been hit hard.


Jason:  Levies and bond issues mean property taxes.  How fair is that?  It is  not fair--those who own more land or property get the same vote as those with less.  But that is how Ohio does it.  [Blogger:  I think that's how this nation does it:  One person, one vote.  Money counts in other ways, but not at the ballot box.  At least, not ideally.]

Vic:  That is why we did not go with RP Architects--because of the taxes.

John Festa:  As far as bond issues are concerned, there is probably no better time to borrow than when you can pay off with a lower rate in the future when the future might brighten.  [Blogger:  Might?  What assurance is that?  It might not brighten, either.]
Continuing:  Bonds are something you might sell.  If it is marketed correctly there is no reason you couldn't sell them.  I think we are pretty much in agreement.  Maybe we can move it forward with a resolution.  I think it is an ideal time to let the community know we are in agreement.  You can hardly afford even to piecemeal.  Even small things cost a lot.
Continuing:  Do a little here and a little there and concentrate on those things--what about the big things, roof, septic system, etc.  [Blogger:  I am not quite sure what he means by little things.]
It needs to be put together so when you are able to get that money, you can go ahead with it.

Jason:  When we get bids we try to get multiple bids so we can make the best decision.

Carole Pollard:  The Mantua Restoration Society joined Heritage Ohio (the physical arm of historic preservation in Ohio) as a non profit, and I attended the annual conference [recently].  I can tell you that all of us have not had a wide enough view of things.  Jason, I know I have nailed you any number of times the way my father did me--so you would do better.  But the members of the restoration society did not have a wide enough view, and after sitting through all the trustees, meetings,I keep hearing, Oh, my God, we don't know how to do this.  At this conference I met people who know how to do this:  The chairman of the board of the Warehouse District Foundation in Cleveland and someone from Louisville who is currently restoring the Hotel Onesto [in Canton], and they are dedicated to historic preservation and how to do it.

One of the things that  is coming up that can work to our advantage and open doors is the National Register of Historic Places nomination.  That means grants that we can go for, for consulting and for other things.

 The owners of the building have to sign off to get such grants.  To be perfectly honest, up until and including the last meeting with the debate about rental of the annex, we felt we were whistling in the wind, to use a more genteel term than usual for it.  Historic preservation, the trustees, historic grants, the possibility of a small levy, and the possibility that everyone is acting in good faith and wants  his whole district to be what it can be--our identity-think about the New York skyline and the grief that ran through the whole country when the Twin Towers came down.

The school building--there are not very many like that left.  One of the reasons it looks the way it always has is that it is so sound--nothing has cracked or shifted.  Also, the school district wanted to get rid of it and stopped doing much on it from about 1994.  And we have been dead in the water also.

There are many resources and another couple of doors ar e opening up for us.  I have one more thing to say.

The first person I met at the conference was a rep from Marvin Windows, which specializes in historic restoration and preservation.  He said two things to me.  First, they are the most expensive company to deal with but also the cheapest--because they do something once.  Second, they can do one elevation at a time and as we got  the money we could do the rest.  I think we should stop saying "piecemeal," which is a derogatory term, and say "stages."  Everybody works in stages.

Get the money and begin.  People in this township are an untapped resource.  They will rally around you if they believe you.

Betsy Wolfe:  I was instrumental in restoring the Mantua Village Police Department.  You might want to talk to Harry Buchert--they researched everything and had a plan.  They  would know the process and it helped a lot. You need a general contractor and we got zinged by the auditors because we had a general contractor and then some of the elected officials decided to have one person do this and another one do that.  The auditors criticized that.  We have realized we can't do this ourselves.

John Festa:  I think everybody has good ideas and good intentions but sometimes to move it forward you have to say this is what we want to do.  Sometimes when you work with the government it seems as if it slows everything down.  [Um--aren't John Festa and Jason the government here?]

 I think we should make a decision tonight.  Get it out of low gear.
Let's see if we can get the study going and see what the community wants.  People are competing for grants and you can wait forever.  Get a study together and get the community involved and get it moving.

Larry Leitzow:  I agree.  Something has to be done.  Get a feasibility study and see what it will cost even if you have to hire a general contractor and get a total figure and see where it goes.  Maybe municipal bonds or a tax levy.  As long as it [the building] is fixed properly, I am all for it.

Frank Horack:  I look at this as not only tunnel vision with the school; I look at  the whole picture.  This building will cost some money to fix up and so will the civic center and the garage.   All four need work.  Consider the whole township.  Let the residents decide.  Whether you are going to fix it, tear it down, build new.  You went and hired a professional to tell you what to do with this building. You can't just get my opinion--you need the whole township.  You spent $6,000 on the school.[?]  It is never going to stop.

  [Blogger:  Of course not.  Things start to change and need maintenance as soon as they are made or built.  It has been said that as soon as we are born, we begin moving towards dying.  What I hear in these comments is criticism for having spent money for a qualified evaluation of the Township Hall and the suggestion that the school is a money pit.  Any building can be seen that way, once it gets past a certain age.  But starting over is even more of a money pit, from all that I have researched.].

Jason:  We are elected by the residents to do the best thing.  [Blogger:  Vic said once, in a similar context, that one of the residents had told him that they elected him to make decisions.  The two junior trustees are trying to shift that decision making back to the residents--who have at best partial knowledge of the challenge and have been told a bunch of guff for several years.]

Frank Horack: Put it to the  residents, not by a phone call or a survey.  People don't answer those.  When people vote, they answer..

Dave Pollard:  I can agree with a lot of this and maybe the interest rates will be more advantageous now.  The garage is a huge energy waster winter and summer.  We have a situation not just in Old Taylor Woods--put roads in with this so you can generate the money to get some of these recurring problems fixed.  I farmed in Old Taylor Woods for years and the problems just don't go away.  We have roads closed long enough to put drains in there and do that right.  You are constantly fixing the roads.  Besides lumping all of the township buildings together, do something to take care of the real problem____.    Put the roads on with the buildings and you will have a better chance of passing this.

Repave Old Taylor Woods--I understand that there is a real problem area for perhaps a thousand feet.  Fix it.  You will be up there year after year unless you do it right.

Vic:  With the Land Use Plan we interviewed different constituents and had the zoning commission involved.  We sad down and decided who we wanted to hire to do the studies.

Betsy Wolfe:  I agree that you need to make a stand but also let everyone know when you are going to get it done.

Larry Leitzow:  I agree with Vic--if you are going to do a feasibility study, it would not be a bad idea to add this building into it. The Civic Center--the older you get, the more you realize the steps are no good.  You can take the stage out and put the bathrooms on the main floor.  Do it and be done with it.
[Blogger:  Larry has made this recommendation before, and one of the people who worked on the Civic Center--Larry did not--said that implementing that would render part of the building inaccessible.]

Dan Cozzens:  I agree with everything.  Get someone in to figure it out.  I would like to see some kind of facilities for our township workers.  They are using a port-a-potty.

Larry Leitzow:  What if all of the buildings were collected into the central sewer system?  [Blogger:  The context here indicates that the buildings were at least everything from the Township Hall to the township garage, and the school has been mentioned as part of that as well.  The bill would be huge, and every private property owner within 200 feet of the sewer line would be required to tie in as well.  I think that is correct.]

John Festa:  We have a lot in hand that will not have to be redone.

Larry Leitzow:  Does anyone have an idea of what it would cost?

Jason:  You can not determine that until you have the wants and needs of the township.

Carole Pollard:  Sometimes we all forget the questions to ask.  What will it cost if we fix it?  What will it cost if we start from scratch?  We know how many square feet there are in each section of the building.  At $180 per square foot for new construction, we can figure out what it would cost for 4500 square feet, or 6,000.  But there is also the cost of demolition.  Todd Peetz said, early in your term, Jason, that it would be a shame to tear it down, and someone else said that he would hate to try to tear it down.  Tearing the school down would not be like knocking over a shed with a backhoe.  What would it cost in time, and what would it cost to the township's identity, which is no small thing?  Today, many people are adrift.  They come back home not just for the people, but for the place.  This is a stable point.

Starting from scratch, you have to demolish first.  How long will it take?   What  would we do with t he t ownship offices in the meantime?  We can rent rooms and t hat is money thrown away.

At that point I got involved in a debate with John Festa about the cost of an elevator.  It is irrelevant to this discussion, but Randy Roberts, Portage County Building Department head, has said that an elevator is not required.

Continuing:  I think there is a lot more to consider t han just to start over.  You actually hear something intelligent out of Washington sometimes.  What I heard recently was t hat speed and wisdom don't go together.  I realized that here we are 9 years on--some of that is since you and John Festa were in office--it is not just the previous administration.  I understand about how overwhelming some of this is. But I think that all the costs--everything--needs to be looked at.  One of the things t hat came out of the conference was public-private partnerships.  Cal mentioned it several months ago, and you did also.  You have a part of the building that would be rented and t he tenant does t he remodeling to your specifications.  A VA hospital in Texas and a hotel in Washington, D.C., have been done that way.  One thing we are afraid of is the building somehow slipping away, or being damaged, but these things are contractual, and the owner retains ownership and and   the renovations are done on a contractual basis.

You have a lot of tools now, and the National Register gives us tools we did not have before.  That more than compensates for the drawbacks of having an old building.    

Frank Horack:  Frank suggested/recommended putting an ad in the paper and getting a resume for each person who would be on the building committee.

Jason:  We would have a say in the process.  I would hope we would [be] sincere in filling the bill. [?]

Mark Hall:  Interviewing people and a facilitator:  The facilitator would lead the process.  On the Land Use Committee, that facilitator made sure there was a  cross section.
Some of the discussion has expanded to the other buildings--[an example of] project proliferation.  But the principles would allow application to this building.
To Marie:  Do you recall what the 1.5 mil road levy is bringing in?
Jason answered:  About $160,000.
Mark did some impromptu math in hi head, which I think he said later was not accurate  He added that a .2 mil levy would cover maintenance costs as things went along.
Continuing:  There would not be an immediate influx of funds.  One of the things  that should be determined is what you have to do and what you would like to do.

Carole Pollard:  Whatever you do, do it with --I would like to be able to speak without all the muttering from the back of the room--whatever you do, make sure you do it so that it is an objective process.  [Note:  That was Larry Leitzow muttering, which quite a few of us have to put up with, since Jason seems deaf to it.]

Dave Pollard:  Nuts and bolts:  For the long term, if you are going to look at the roofs on all these buildings (the historical ones), please research replacing these shingled roofs with metal.  Many buildings as old as these were roofed with slate and metal.  I don't remember what the original barn at your  [Jason] place had for roofing.  Partly longevity and partly fire proofing [with slate or metal].  They can be very attractive and not ruin the historic value.

It was now 8:00 p.m., and Jason said to John Festa and Vic, We still need to do more research on bond issues.  We need to have a conversation with Janet Esposito.  We should look at not just the school but trhe entire group of buildings.  They will need maintenance and structural improvements.  We need a consultant to be aware that we have more than one building.  How do we determine cost?  [There are estimating books, Jason.]Can we go to a baselilne? Costs need to be determined in order to meet the goals.  We need to find consultants.

Vic:  That is pretty much where we need to begin.

Jason:  If we incorporate only the buildings, I would appreciate feeling I am involved, that would be good.
[Again, context made it clear that Jason was hypothesizing about involving residents and how they would feel.]  Knowing their ideas are being listened to, people will feel more in favor of supporting this.

[We need] information from Janet Esposito's office.  Millage, bond issues, etc.

To Vic and John Festa:  We need to keep on top of this.  Then he asked about a monthly meeting.

The day set for that was the second Monday of the month.  The next meeting on this topic would be July 8 at 7 p.m.

John Festa:  Can we continue to have an agenda item on the trustee meeting for possible discussion?  That way we would not have to wait for a whole month.

Jason:  I don't want it to turn into a complete two-hour discussion of this project because it is such a big project.

The next trustees meeting is on June 20 at 7:30 p.m.

Before that, there is a budget workshop [already history as you read this] on June 17 at 7 p.m.

The meeting adjourned at 8:13 p.m.      

Phone for Zoning Inspector; Blunt Public Comment

This post is from the June 6, 2013, Mantua Township Trustees' meeting.

Discussion about a phone for the Zoning Inspector continued at this meeting.

Just before the phone discussion, John Festa requested an executive session.  Since those sessions are supposed to remain in confidence, except for too-close ties to a "sponsor" or "manager," [I am being very diplomatic, here], and since Jason did not ask for that vague request to be clarified (executive sessions are limited as to the topics that can be discussed in them), I do not know what that session was about.

John Festa:  It is time we got Tierney Bryant a cell phone and should move forward on it.

John Festa had one quote from Verizon and one from Walmart.  The latter was cheaper but less convenient to use.  Verizon:  $35.00/month plus a $70.00 initiation fee.  John Festa believed that a total of   $50/month should do for the phone.

Jason suggested sending the old 274-9663 number to the cell phone and getting another number for the phone in the school building. 

John Festa:  Made a motion to get a cell phone for the zoning inspector and porting the zoning number to it, cost not  to exceed $50.00/month.  Jason seconded.

Vic:  Changing that number will probably change the whole plan.  The new plan will be at a higher cost.

Vote:  John Festa, yes; Jason, yes; Vic, no.

John Festa also wanted to get a badge for Tierney.

Public Comment began at 9:50.

Mark Hall, Loris Avenue:  I would ask that the trustees when you are talking about maintaining the historic buildings , [consider] a very small maintenance levy like .2 mil.  That would build up over time and could then be used to maintain the buildings.
Jason:  That's a good idea.

Phil Derthick, S.R. 82:  You mentioned that you can not do business on a handshake any more.What do you have to get into a contract to protect the township residents to be sure that things get done the way they should be done?
Jason:  Everybody wants proof.  It's tough because things are not like they used to be.   that you will provide the services you are supposed to be providing.  Everybody  used to do things on a handshake.  I would like to think we could do do that but I don't think we can do that any more.

Phil:  I have never been able to start a project unless we knew we had the money to do it.  When I was head of the building committee for the church we were told at the beginning that we had to have the funds available in case the volunteers could not come through.

It looks to me that you pretty near did a handshake deal with the memorial.  We all hope it goes through and they don't run out of funds.  Frank Horak has said that as long as he is alive and the funds don't run out, it will get done.  That's not much a guarantee.

Matt Parsons: No comment.

Larry Parsons:  [Blogger:  I am just going to summarize this.]  Basically, Larry grilled Tierney Bryant about whether she had found or was driving around looking for zoning violations.  Tierney replied that she had gotten some complaints that she was checking out.

[The Zoning Commission has over years developed and exhaustively reviewed the Mantua Township Zoning Book, which is what the Zoning Inspector follows--not someone's opinion, and not what was published as zoning violations--falsely and erroneously--on John Festa's campaign website.  Cosmetics have become a great concern in the township beginning with the 2009 election and intensifying with the 2011 election.

[During the last couple of years or so of his life, John Vechery was Zoning Inspector for both Mantua Township and Mantua Village, and he said that the worst thing that could be done with zoning was to have appearance ordinances.  They set neighbor against neighbor, for one thing, and are more matters of opinion than fact.  A quote from a poem says it:  "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

[So--in my opinion, the above inquiry is a witch hunt with no foundation, but it would probably discomfit someone who is still working to learn a new job in a township that has become increasingly ravaged by strife and nastiness.  Why is she being criticized instead of thanked for taking on such a challenge?

[One more thing:  Some of these questions, John had answered long since, chapter, book, verse, Regional Planning, and the County Prosecutor's office.  But maybe a new person can be beaten into shape, according to those who want to run the township to please themselves and not according to rule of law.]

Carole Pollard, Allyn Road:  On this RP Architects proposal--it was not a feasibility study; it was a proposal for a feasibility study.  It was 2003, and it is erroneous to say it was never implemented.  It was never adopted because it was going to cost $19,500 to do it propersly with citizens' committees that would be handled by facilitators outside of anybody in the township.  That is a special skill that nobody at the font table has.  You can not have an objective process in house.  If you have every tried to be your own marriage counselor or your own surgeon, you have your answer about how that will work.

In 2004 the building was purchased and the trustees decided not do do a bond issue or levy because they did not want to tax the residents further.  Do you remember what happened in 2008?

  [I should have waited longer; Jason just looked at me more or less blankly.  Either he did not remember or that's how he looks when he is waiting for me to finish.]

We had the worst recession since the great depression, so that decision not to add a tax was a wise one.  The paper today had an article on the front page saying that there were 500 requests for property tax values  to be reviewed.

No matter how you do this study, if you want it done right, it is going to cost money.  You [Jason] have to have had statistics classes for your degree.  You have to have reliability and validity.  The proposal floated at the last meeting or two in order to save some money or something has cut out everything that would promote or support objectivity or validity.  It would be a costly savings.
In spite of that, you have said we would have to spend some money on it.  There is no money.  There is some if we are careful and we get over throwing rocks and sand in the way of volunteers except for favorites.  We can do work on all of these buildings.
You [Jason] had a problem solving workshop a year ago.  Nothing happened after that. Nothing was implemented and you had the chance.  You still could.
Please do not refer to it as a feasibility study.  As presented it is flawed.

The following people either had no comment or had left:  Amy Janca, Carol Srajer, Steve Zelinski, and Roger Hurd.

Dave Pollard, S.R. 82:  What Phil Derthick said about handshake agreements:  A lot of us still do, but it takes trustworthy people on both sides.  In many cases that is not the case any more.  This situation with no contractors but one with a truck putting in bids this year:  That is the first time that anyone can remember.  I have talked to contractors who have worked here for years.  They do not want to work with us any more.  They can not trust Mantua Township's word.  [Among Dave's remarks was one directed at John Festa:  "You can smile if your want, but I have talked  to them."]  I have known them since before you were born, Jason.
Jason:  You talked to one - - -
Dave:  I talked with three contractors who have put in bids every year. I have known these people personally.  They do not want to work for Mantua Township any more. That situation is going to cost the taxpayers money and every project time because of the process you will have to go through.  It had a starting point and a reason.
Jason:  Since we have hired a third person the amount we have used equipment bid contractors is lower.  We can use our back hoe more.  We can cover more work on our own except for specialized services.
Dave:  You  did not get bids on the specialized equipment.   Everyone knows that in the past we have done all we could with our own.
Jason:  They may not have read the paper.
Dave:  They saw the [ad for] bids.
Jason:  I disagree.  I wholeheartedly disagree.
Dave:  They all said the same thing:  They saw the ad and decided not to respond.  If you want to save the taxpayers the money, you will get to the bottom of the problem.  An adult will pursue facts where they lead and solve the problem.  A 7th grader [Dave referred to a comment Jason had made in the previous meeting] will deny there is a problem and run away and blame everyone else.

Larry Leitzow, S.R. 82:  I am going to address what Mr. Derthick brought up about the memorial running out of money.  Frank Horack announced there is $12,000.  I haven't had a chance to talk with him before the meeting, but today we got another $1,050 in.  I am sure this will go ahead on schedule.  If there is a worry about running out of money I will personally guarantee that there will be enough for the memorial.

[Blogger:  To all of you who were asking what's really going on--there it is, the real agenda in this project.]

Ellen Monroe was next on the comment sheet, but she had left.

Dan Cozzens:  I agree that you can take people for their word with a handshake and some you can not.  I think we did good last year by using [Mike] Kodash one time last year.  I think our guys are doing a good job.
Vic:  You could have rented one, but Mike Kodash still cost us less.  In years past, we have accepted all bids and Cat [?] has put in bids.
[Blogger:  Dan Cozzens stuck to the idea that equipment could have been rented for the township road crew to use, even though doing that would cost more than hiring one of the local equipment contractors.]

[Blogger:  OK, my eyes glaze over during the detailed financial reports.  However, I understand that prudent fiscal management looks at the whole picture, not just one item in a budget.  If the money usually spent on specialized equipment and skilled operator/owners is less than the increase in the demands on the township's finances because a third person was hired, then where is the savings?

And let me say this very clearly:  If I had been looking for work and an opportunity like the township had presented itself, I would have jumped at it.  The employee deserves NO criticism.  But what about the people who keep telling us how well they are managing the money, then tell us we don't have money enough to maintain our buildings, and then we learn that the township will be broke in six years at the current rate of spending?  How is that justifiable?

One more thing:  All money used to support a government is taxpayer money, not just what was used to purchase a building that will only become more useful as the township grows. I think there has been waste in the last two years in the township--but spending on the school building has been prevented as much as possible.  And we're still going into a hole.]

Dan Cozzens' remarks ended public comment, and a motion was made at 10:10 to pay the bills.  Your faithul blogger left.

6-6-13: Township Hall Analysis; More re Vinyl

Vic reported that the Township had hired Ambassador Construction Consultants to assess the Township Hall.  He asked Jason if Jason had had a chance to read through the report.

Jason had done that and also talked with the consultant, who reported on the paint ([in poor condition, as we all can see]) and analyzed where the moisture is coming from and how to address that.  The report is 10 pages long.  The consultant told Jason that they probably didn't need to hire him to come out and tell them what they already knew.
 [Blogger:  That's probably true.  However, this approach effectively quells (or, in a sane situation, should quell) the surfeit of opinions from apparently everyone who has one.  So getting in an outsider and paying for the opinion was probably the only remedy.] 

One of the findings was that one of the undercoats is lead based paint.  Any pre-1978 structure contains lead.  Anyone who does any scraping must be lead certified.

Moisture:  In the crawl space[which I believe has been described as dirt, with sandstone walls], it is almost impossible to waterproof that design.  The only way to seal it up, according to the conversation between him and Jason, was to do some type of foam barrier insulation from the inside.

Ventilation is also a source of moisture.  There is a heater upstairs the use of which alone can cause exterior paint failure.  Jason said to Dottie Summerlin, who attended this meeting, that the heater has to go.

Dottie asked which one, since there are two up there.  The gas heater is the problem.

Vic:  Any other heater needs to be vented to the outside.
Dottie:  The heater is hardly ever turned on because we are not here in the winter.  Also, the new windows tightened the building.

Vic:  The last page is something that I sent him showing the relationship between the temperature and humidity.

Jason described the recommendations, which were divided into time frames.

5-10 years:  Scrape paint every 5-10 years.  His conclusions are designed on limited funds.

10-15 years:  Professional work.

15-25 years:  [Blogger:  I have to get this from the recording of the meeting but will put it in by the end of the day on June 15.]

An option for buildings not considered historical is to remove the siding and install vinyl.

With limited funds, it would be possible to do [only?] $1,000-$2,000 per year, painting and touching it up every year.
The consultant said that you would never get  all the paint off and you are putting it on top of wood, some of which may need to be replaced.

Then we talked about vinyl.  But this is more costly.  If he were going to do that, he would . . . [Blogger:  Missed a phrase; will check and get it right] and insulation on the outside.  This would seal the building and he recommended sealing the crawl space as the best option.

Some vinyl sidings are better than they used to be and may have 25 to 50-year warranties.  It would be a shame to put vinyl on a historical building, but we have a difficult decision:  Do we continue to paint, or use vinyl?

Jason said he had called the Ohio preservation people.  We have a common problem.  According to Tina Harrah, it is a matter of keeping the wood or removing it and using vinyl. 

If Federal funds or permits are not involved, historical preservation organizations have no say-so. 
If we remove the wood, we are destroying the historical integrity.  But if we keep the wood on and put vinyl over it, the historical integrity has not been damaged.

This building has been painted for over 100 years. 

Jason, continuing:  I think as a board we need to decide how we are going to go forward.  If we are going to paint it we need to take care of the interior issues.  Jason then asked Vic and John Festa for their comments and thoughts.

Vic:  With the vinyl, is the wood going to rot under it?  A vapor barrier downstairs would be a good start.  I don't know how they would get inside to foam it.
Trying to make an attempt on the outside to seal the sandstone I am not sure how to do that.  I will have to do some research.

John Festa:  I am definitely concerned about the moisture, especially [because of ] the historical stuff upstairs.  We need to address that.  Over the last couple of years, people have come and given us quotes on paint from $15,000 down to $9,000.
 [Blogger:  Those quotes showed up in John Festa's hands, unannounced, at one meeting.  Since the last election, that has increasingly been the case:  without any discussion that I am aware of, these quotes show up outside of any bid process or preliminary discussion and agreement among the trustees.] 
[Regarding] quotes on vinyl, one company is working on older homes in Hudson.  He quotes from several companies.[?]  Champion will come and speak with us.  It would cost $23,000-$24,000.  Another from Ravenna was $10,000 cheaper.

Jason:   I have a quote . . . from Strawberry Remodelers for $18,000.  The owner stated that with vinyl there are cheap or expensive ones.  Some vinyl looks so much like wood that you have to get really close to tell.
How are we going to move forward?  We could probably get a lot of volunteers for the outside, but it is lead paint and is has been identified.  I do not want to expose anyone to that.

John Festa gave the trustees copies of the paint estimates he had gotten last year, ranging from $9500 to $14,185. 
There was a comment about being sure that the contractor specifies the siding they are going to use.

Jason:  We have more research to do.  We need to decide in the next couple of months.

Marie:  We only have $9900 for this.

[Blogger:  If you look carefully at the above, starting with John Festa's comments following Vic's question  about the wood rotting under the vinyl, does anything come into focus?  Like how it just happened that there were copies of paint quotes from a year ago, and how Jason happened to have quotes on vinyl siding after --at least as I remember or do not remember-- no particular discussion about going out to get such information.  And the comment about making sure the vinyl siding was clearly specified:  Is all of this just a front to hide done deals?  It all looks OK unless you have been at every meeting, so that anomalies and contradictions and procedural kinks become more evident.  A good many meetings sound just fine--admirable, in fact--if each of them had no history, or if the viewer had no history with the current regime.  With history, however, things look a tad bit more questionable.] 

Various items of routine business; chip and seal, other.

Blogger:  This post covers the kinds of things that every government entity handles routinely.  Attitudes and values show up, regardless, and that is always interesting.  As much as possible, this will be more summary than detailed semi-transcript.

Also, this post was actually done in two parts; everything from The Land Bank to the end was added on a second day, so if you already read it, there's more now.

Jason reported on a phone call from a resident who lives near the school about having been contacted about leasing his property, which borders on township property.  There was discussion and some clarification about how drilling is done now and how leases are handled.  Jason said that [blogger's wording] he just wanted to give the trustees a heads up about a possible future contact regarding this.

John Festa wanted to put a new sign at the ball field on Center Road more or less across from the Township garage.  He had investigated cost for a double sided sign at around $225.  Discussion about the position and the double side.  Vic thought that positioning the sign so that it would be at right angles to the road [if I understand this correctly] would pose problems relative to the flagpole.

John Festa made a motion to get a new sign and posts, not to exceed $225; Jason seconded; John Festa and Jason, yes; Vic, abstain.

John Festa also commented on the property around the school, which is the site of the August Portage County Township Association dinner meeting.  He wanted to know when the area where the trailers had been removed had not been seeded, as Dave Pollard said he would do with seed of the trustees' choice.

The dirt for the area and the seed have to be acquired and Vic said that the pipes there had not been pulled or buried yet because [this was before all the rain] the ground was too hard.  Vic also asked for volunteers to pull weeds around the school.

Dave reported that three things on his tractor had failed simultaneously and he would do the job as soon as he had the tractor running again.  [As has become customary since the 2009 election, there were various sneers from the back of the room, especially the southwest corner.]

Vic reported on the electrical pole that needs to be replaced outside the Township Hall.  He gave the name of each bid source and the bid amount.  The total for everything for the lowest bidder came to $1380.
Vic said that we would be without power for a while and would have to work out something with the church.

Vic made a motion to replace the pole for a total not to exceed $1500.  Entities involved and work:  the pole, the electrical hookup, and Ohio Edison; Carney Electric had the low bid of $840.  [Blogger:  The minutes of the meeting, which should be posted on the township website after the June 20 meeting, should have this information, probably in better detail than here.  The official minutes are always the authority.]

Vic also reported on an insurance provider requirement of signs at the playground equipment.   We need 6 signs at $48 per sign:  $300.

There was discussion about which funds to get the money from for the signs and the electrical pole and associated requirements.  The trustees did decide, formally, to purchase the 6 signs.

John Festa asked if it would be possible to use the electricity from that pole to light the flagpole.
Vic:  Yes.  That is why I put the large box on it.

Old Business
Land Bank:  Nothing new.  Marie asked about getting reimbursement of our $660 in expenses; Jason was going to check.

Chip and Seal Bids
Vic suggested reviewing the crack seal first so we will know what we are dealing with.  Vic contacted four people and called two back.  Only one quote (these were not bids) was dropped off.

Jason read the list  rather quickly. About 3.7 miles will be done.  There was a little discussion about what we had discussed paying; Vic checked and found it to be $10,800.

Jason made a motion to accept Asphalt Fabric's quote; Vic seconded; unanimous.

Marie asked to make a comment here:  We still have money set aside for contracts in the public works section of Road and Bridge.  She asked to move that money into the Road and Bridge fund.  That would leave $214,000 plus a little in the appropriate fund.

Chip and Seal   The bids had been opened at a special meeting a week earlier and have been tabulated.  The Portage County Engineer's office estimated the project (5 sections of roads) at $280,000, some for single chip and some for double.

Of the four bids, the lowest was $208, 556.18.  Jason said that his original figures were for $128,000 to spend on chip and seal.  We are up there in expenditures, so Marie, how do we look.

Marie:   The bid is $208,000 and we have $214,875.  That does not leave a lot for tree removal or anything else.  If you move money within the fund, there is not a lot to move.

Vic asked about dropping off one of the single chips, which would be possible because the bid request had been written so the township could do any or all of the project. 
Vic added that the double chips are for the worst roads and we should stay with double chips.  Vic had also talked with someone in the business who was concerned about the wait between the first and second application of chips--it was so long that there might not be any stone left by the second one.  Vic was also concerned about whether the amount of oil specified would be enough.

Jason:  The theory of the people I talked to is that the wait time gives time for the emulsion to set.  They are the resident experts, so we (I?) rely on them.

 Vic was skeptical of that approach.  He also thought that the best spending was on crack seal, which Auburn Township has had good results with.

Discussion about what could be eliminated, and the cost was brought down to $185,000.

Jason had also thought about doing something on the cemetery  roads.
Marie:  Roads in the cemetery do not come out of the road fund.  The cemetery has its own fund.

John Festa asked about the cost of the work on Old Taylor Woods.  Answer:  $25,000; 760 feet..  Jason made the motion to accept the above bid to do the chip and seal with the modifications discussed.  Vic seconded.  Unanimous.

Marie wants to talk with Chris Meduri because the original bid specs were being modified

The workshop regarding the school building is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Township Hall.  [Blogger:  That meeting has been held and will be reported on.]

Someone from Streetsboro has looked at the file cabinets and will take one of the pair.

Blogger:  This is a logical place to end; the discussion that follows, on the township hall and [yet again] a cell phone for Tierney Bryant, is a little lengthy.

Chip and Seal; Schedule through July; Rental of buildings; A misconception.

Chip and Seal:  Bids were opened on 5/23 and sent to the Portage County Engineer to be tabulated.  Marie was not at that meeting to certify that the funds would be available for the project.  At the regular meeting, tonight, the bids had been tabulated and could be reviewed for certification.  John  Festa had taken the minutes in Marie's absence, and she thanked him.  [Those specifics will be in a subsequent post--which, maddeningly, will appear above this one in the queue.] 

Marie also asked for dates for a budget workshop and hearing; requested that the first July meeting, which would fall on July 4, be scheduled for July 2; and that the second meeting in July be moved to July 16.  If the budget hearing is set for 7/2, then Marie can get the report or waiver done by 7/15. 

The following dates were scheduled:  7/2 at 7:00 p.m. for the budget workshop, with an additional notice about the change of date and a statement that the regular meeting would immediately follow the budget workshop; July 18 moved to July 16 at the regular time.  Finally, there is a meeting on Monday 6/17 which in my notes also looks budget related.

Zoning, Tierney Bryant:  Two permits were applied for last month and both approved.  A request for a home business was turned down and will go to the BZA.  Two sign applications were denied and there were two complaints about no signs.

John Festa inquired about Tierney's report from last month and asked for an update. 
Tierney:  I gave them their 30-day windows and then [will] see whether they are going to comply or not.

John Festa asked whether Tierney had read section 305 of the Zoning Book; she said she would have to look at it to say for sure.

John Festa:  I would like for you to study that--it deals with enforcement.  It needs to be followed up according to what has been written in the book.  
Then there was some more discussion about the violation process and also reimbursement for the official, mailed notification.
John Festa:  I would like for you to read section 305.4 and use that as your guide. 
Jason mentioned  that the zoning inspector has a list of all non conforming properties; Tierney said she did not have that. 
Vic commented  that he had not seen it but that all of the boxes of records still have to be transferred into filing cabinets.

At this point, Frank Horack interjected [as he did several other times during the meeting] a comment about the BZA having such information in their files.

Jason commented that all of those may not have gone through the BZA, and Vic added that once the files had been gotten in order, we would have to see if they could be found [remember that something like 30 years of zoning files were moved from John Vechery's home office to the Administrative (school) building].

John Festa wants the list as soon as Tierney gets it.

[Blogger:  Readers might want to review a post from the 2011 election season in which John Festa's campaign website (now dismantled) had photographs of 10-12 zoning "violations",  none of which were actual violations, despite their not being House and Garden  for appearance.  John Vechery and the candidate had a brief, pungent exchange about that.]

Jim Aldrich reported on the  cemetery, total activity for which came to $1950.  He also thanked everyone who had contributed to how nice things looked for Memorial Day. 
John Festa asked if Jim had ever gotten a copy of the cemetery policy and asked to have a copy.

Road Department:  The trustees decided to approve purchasing an automatic grease gun for the road crew; NAPA has one on sale right now.  Jason made a motion to purchase one, cost not to exceed $250.  Approved.

In order, the Veterans' Memorial update came next and has already been presented.

Garden Club, Sue Skrovan:  The plant sale was a success, and the leftover plants are out on the green for anyone who wants them.

LCA, Barb Herbold:  Barb thanked Brian Tayerle, Mike Richards, and Dan Wyznski for the work in the cemetery.  However, she was not pleased that the mowing service had left grass clippings all over the fresh mulch.

Nothing from the Chamber of Commerce, John Festa.

New Business, Trustee Reports, Announcements came next.

At the last meeting there had been discussion about rental policies, focusing on the idea of certain groups being able to use one of the buildings free of charge.  This goes back to Ellie Monroe's request that the annex be made available for a community-based gathering place at no charge. 
Jason put together a draft of a policy.  Such uses should fall Monday through Friday, since use of the building on weekends usually represents income to the township.  He was concerned about ways that a group--a hypothetical group--might overuse the privilege but said that it is hard to define what "reasonable requests" means.

John Festa:   Organizations may not hold fund raising events.  I do not think they should have politically  motivated events.  Also:  All other rules and regulatrions set forth by Mantua Townhip for use of the buildings must be adhered to.  I thought also that a definition of a non profit organization* should be in the policy.
*  The federal government defines such organizations for tax purposes and in regard to political and other activities.

[Blogger:  Are you reading between the lines and seeing the assumptions and biases here?  Remember that at Dawn Pechman's urging John Festa consulted Chris Meduri about the sign last fall for the Restoration Society Harvest Dinner--and it was not friendly in its intention.  If you really want to check, it would be a late October or early November post.]

Vic:  We are still going to have to require a security deposit.  I wondered whether we want to specifiy a rental as a community day or as a community function--do we want to limit the hours?  Now we rent it from 7 a.m. to midnight.  Do we want to limit it to 8-10 hours?  Vic mentioned an open community day, and also that he had gotten a call that afternoon asking to rent the Civic Center on a free basis.  You can always fill a space if it is free, he said. 

Vic commented further that the group that wanted the Civic Center for free intended to make money on it.  But if it is a community day, that establishes it as a community function.
Frank Horack asked again to comment, stating that the Ruritans use the green and the Civic Center for their clambake and have it from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.  [Not sure of the point here.  I believe that the Ruritans pay rent.]

Jason thought that maybe the Civic Center could be defined as rental only.
Vic commented that the Township Hall was not really rented, but was more or less kept for community type functions, like the Boy Scouts, for example.
John Festa thought that the Township Hall, always available for community purposes, could be left as is. 

John Festa, continuing:  We need restrictions on fund raising and political organizations.

Marie:  Restrict it to 501 c 3?  [A 501 c 3 organization is a non profit specifically prohibited from political activity, defined as endorsing or giving financial support to a candidate or cause.  Hospice organizations are 501 c 3's.  They raise LOTS of money, use it for good purposes, and do not engage in political activity.  That's one example.]

Vic:  It should be a free, open community day that will permit an individual to use it.

John Festa:  The Restoration Society--

Vic:  No.  The restoration society rents it. 

[Blogger:  Apparently John Festa did not know that.  And he is assuming that the Restoration Society engages in politicking, which it does not.  It very carefully does not.  The fund raising activities the society has conducted fall under civic activities--and the school building and trustees are intended as the beneficiaries of those activities.]

Vic:  This was an individual who has paid; they have puzzles and cards and a potluck lunch and would like to see it continue as an open free day for the community to use.  The individual would leave a security deposit with me. 

[Blogger:  That was essentially the end of the back and forth about this topic.  Jason took his draft back to work on some more, stating that if each of them took it and worked on it and then compared and then repeated that process, it would be too time consuming.  I should also say that I did not write that down from his comments, but that was the jist of it, and he remains the person working on the policy.]   

Mantua Twp. Trustees 6-6-13: A quick overview: Vets Memorial, Nat'l Register, Rental policy

Well, I hope it will be quick.  There is too much going on this week and next to put every syllable (or maybe even every other syllable) into the blog.  However, there were some important things that will get at least some detail and probably comment as well.  This post will not necessarily be in chronological order as the topics came up in the meeting.

Fiscal Officer's report:  To get this information accurately, check the township website;  the report for this meeting will be posted there in two weeks when the minutes have been reviewed and corrected if necessary.

However, the township received a Bureau of Workers Compensation refund amounting to 57% of the premium to everyone.  Our share will be $1,530 plus a bit put back into the Worker's Compensation Fund.

Frank Horack gave Veterans' Memorial updates.  The corrected plans have been picked up and have been tentatively approved ffrom the flagpole to the parking lot.  The handicapped parking needs to be updated; the former Americans with Disabilities Act code no longer applies; a new code took effect in 2013.
The plans [and permits?] came to $527.00, and there will be an additional charge, so Frank said that the permit costs are getting expensive.

Frank gave some forms and papers to Jason and commented about official plans to be approved by the Building Department.  Those were left with Jason.
Frank gave a financial report for the group:  $12,000 from the private sector, and the group is still looking for donations.
Frank said that a good group of people was working on the project, which was moving faster than he could keep up with.    He said that there would be no interference between the flagpole height and the trees.

Vic addressed the concern about the sidewalk's effect on the tree roots and asked about whether the group would be putting gravel down under the sidewalk.  Frank said it would be a floating sidewalk.
Frank said that he hoped to lay out the location of the memorial and the sidewalk this coming weekend (already in its last hours as your blogger  keyboards this).
Frank said that they are still looking for donations because they still need funds.

Jason thanked  Frank and asked if he would be at the first meeting next month.  Answer:  Yes.

There was a fair amount of discussion about rental policies, especially for community groups.  That will be detailed in a later post.  Suffice it to say right now that it appears to me that John Festa did not understand the real nature of Ellie Monroe's original inquiry, nor who was renting/using the building for the Open Tuesdays and Fellowship Wednesdays, nor that The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., has always rented the school building, not used it for free.

National Register of Historic Places update.  Jason announced having received a letter from the Ohio Historical Societry.  The Mantua Center School building is being considered for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.  They have a board that is an advisory panel that will review our building on June 21, 2013, at 10 a.m. in Columbus.  They would like a representative to attend.  John Festa stated that he would like to attend.
Jason also presented the information on the rights of owners that the letter contained, about being able to comment or object.   Also, owners are not necessarily bound by hard and fast regulations.

[Blogger:  The full text of the letter will be put into a later post.]

Vic presented information on the bids/costs of the new  light pole outside the Township Hall.  Those details will be presented in a later post.

Chip and seal and paving in Old Taylor Woods will be presented in a later post.

Vic:  The consultant's report on the Township Hall.  This got detailed, too, and it looks as if vinyl siding is in the future of  the Township Hall.  That section of the meeting will be presented later.  It did not sound to your blogger as if the underlying moisture problem will really be addressed.  Solving the problems and getting the building looking right in fact and not just cosmetically is not a quick fix, nor a cheap one.

There was yet another discussion about a phone for Tierney Bryant, and earlier in the meeting there was discussion about violations, which seemed to be focused as much on appearance as anything else.

Public Comment began at 9:50.  This post ends here.  I will come back and go through the meeting in more detail, but just not today/tonight.  This post has not been proofread yet.

5-16-13 Trustees wrap-up; Township Hall and Public Comment, mostly

Vic reported briefly on the inspection of the township hall.  The report will be in hand at the June 6 meeting, so there is no reason to put preliminary statements into this post.

There was also an inquiry about a 4-H group using the township hall on Sundays for 10-15 young people.  Dottie Summerlin, present, checked and said that June 2 and 23 would be all right with the Historical Society.

John Festa:  Old Business:  Rental.  This dealt with Ellie Monroe's request about waiving the rental fee at the annex for her gatherings.  John Festa had talked with Chris Meduri who said that we needed a policy; he or John Festa wants a policy that would cover everyone.
[Blogger:  This was the usual idea of "If we do it for one, we have to do it for anyone and all."  The ORC may have some guidance/requirements on that.]

Ellie:  In my letter I stated my opinion that there should be a policy  that when the building is to be used by a group, not a fund raiser, or a specific group of people but is open to the public, that the tax payers should not have to be charged for that.  I noticed that our events were referred to as Senior events.  I have avoided using that term--it is open to people of all ages.  I am seeking to be of service to the community. 

John Festa was concerned with the problem of picking and choosing.

Ellie:  I am asking for you to set a policy for that type of event.

John Festa:  But this building has a precedent for this building is open to the public free. 

Ellie:  So why can't that building be the same? 

 [Blogger:  If you have been to any of the open Tuesdays or fellowship Wednesdays, you have seen that the township hall is completely inadequate to accommodate the number and variety of things that people do at the annex.   In addition, the annex is nowhere near as fragile as the township hall, which everyone is all concerned about until they want to try to keep us from using the school building.  Then, every alternative but the school is trotted out, appropriate or not.]  

Jason:  As long as there is not an ulterior motive.  I will draft a policy.  To Ellie:  You made a good point.  The precedent has been set here free of charge, so why not the same thing there?    But why not the Civic Center as well?  I don't remember if we have ever let people use the Civic Center free of charge.

There was some discussion about plans other than the Township Association dinner in August, with various preparations identified.

Marie said she thought we were going to get back to chip and seal and reminded the trustees that she will not be here next week.
The engineer's estimate is over and above what we have in the budget.  I talked to Chris Meduri, who suggested a bid opening but that you not award a contract until we have the money. One estimate is at   $280,000, but our balance is $220,000.

Jason commented that we are not obligated to do our single-chip roads. 

Marie:  Chad Meduri said to do the bid tabulation but hold off.  If we are also going to do crack seal, Chris Meduri wants to make sure we have enough.

Jason:  We are aware of what the total is.  Obviously we can not spend $280,000.

Marie asked if we are buying the stone.  Answer:  No; the stone is included.

Public Comment began at 8:55.  Jason opened that part of the meeting by scolding everyone about the unruliness of the last meeting, reminded us that attending a meeting does not guarantee speaking at a meeting; that the trustees were not up there to be badgered; that the group acted like 7th graders [he just now noticed that?  The back of the room sounds like a bunch of ADHD middle schoolers most of the time.] ; and admonished us to be brief and respectful.

Dottie Summerlin asked about paving in Old Taylor Woods.  Jason said that the asphalt plant was not open yet, so work could not be done until after Memorial Day.  Dottie pointed out that the hole has grown.

Carole Pollard had no comment and Ellie Monroe nothing further.  

Pat Magyarics:  You talked to Chris Meduri, who gives you advice.  Municipal bonds--what other suggestions did he make?
Jason:  That we not put a tax levy on the ballot.  His suggestions are just suggestions.  He is our legal counsel.

Amy Janca and Carol Srajer had no comment.

Phil Derthick:  Phil addressed a question to John Festa about the spring cleanup, saying he was at the Center and saw someone taking tires in on Friday.  I asked and was told it was OK but when I was taking tires I noticed that you had come in and dropped stuff off.  Next year is is OK if I contact  you to be able to come in?

John Festa:  That was my stuff because I was working.

[Blogger:  The upshot of this was that John Festa told Phil that if Phil contacted him next year, he could drop things off early, too.  So instead of realizing that perhaps he should abide by the same regulations as everyone else, he offered to make Phil just as wrong as he was.  This is ethical?]

Sue Syndric (sp?):  Your feasibility study on the school.  A suggestion on that is that before we hire a consultant is to have a couple  of open houses so citizens can see what they would like to do with the school. The other thing I noticed is that Mantua is not getting any smaller--this zoning inspector--give her here own phone.  I would like to get a response in a timely manner. 
About insurance--Documentation about what is working on township trucks.  Preventive maintenance--do we have enough there?  My vote on the veterans memorial is across the street.
I am in horticulture.  The mulch is not too deep, but is up too high around the roots [of the trees on the green.]  This gives too much room for insects to get into the bark.  I would be willing to come in and change that.
Jason:  If you would be willing to do that, do it.

Vic:  About the [zoning] permit--there is a 10-day period on a ruling.  That is in the ORC.
Sue said that as a citizen it would be nice to get it faster.
Vic:  That was the nice thing about John Vechery having it at his house.
Sue:  If we are going to make it professional, it would be nice if she had her own phone.

Jason:  You mentioned open house it is hard to reach everyone. 

Sue:  That's why I suggested three.  I have never been inside the school, and it would be nice to see it.  Something could be put on the website.  [What an idea!  Information on the township website!]
Jason:  It will have to be multifaceted.  [Blogger:  Clearly, Jason and John Festa did not fall upon the suggestion of several open houses with glad cries and broad smiles.]

Matt Parsons and Jim Aldrich had no comment.
Barb Herbold said that she had intended to mention the mulch around the trees.

Dave Pollard:  I agree with the comment about the phone.  One way or another the zoning inspector and sexton's phones have to be separate.  Something came to light a couple of weeks ago and I think it is totally inappropriate and unethical for anyone to ask one official to check another one's phone.  This would lead to abuse.

There was an article in the paper the other day about the Kent Veterans' memorial--that the elected officials there selected the site--in stark contrast to what has gone on here.  That is about it for tonight.  I like the idea of open houses at the administration building for people who have not had a chance to see it and there are volunteers to work over there.

Steve Zielinski (sp?):  A survey is probably good.  The open house also.

Roger Hurd:  There is a precedent for not charging for community groups to use buildings not just here but also the Civic Center.  In years past it was open for groups to use.  In years gone by it was done with the Civic Center on a gentleman's handshake.  The Christian Church provided 400 man hours and $3500 of work there.  The trustees agreed to let us use it.

Jason:  I wish more things could be done on handshakes, but these days it seems as if we need to have a policy.  [Blogger:  Or maybe there are not enough gentlemen these days.]

Dan Cozzens:  Give the Zoning Inspector a phone--keep it separate.

One of the Zullas had no comment.

At 9:15 the trustees made a motion to pay the bills.

At that point, your faithful blogger left.  I did not hear of anything significant happening after the bills were paid.