[Blogger: Although readers interested in our insurance plan were urged to read the official minutes (to be posted after 3-7-14 on the township website) of the discussion with Brian Savage, I thought this was worth putting into the blog:
[Brian Savage: Mantua Township has below the average cost per plan and falls well within the range of other townships in Ohio.
[The reason I have chosen to put this into the blog is that in the past, our plan was criticized as a "Cadillac plan" in order to attack Vic and Marie. Now that Jason is on the plan, those remarks have dropped off almost completely. This is not to say that insurance costs can be ignored, but it's interesting observing whose ox may be getting gored. If it's someone's pet ox, silence.]
Various corrections were made to the previous meeting's minutes, including a request by John Festa that the paragraph he had read at the previous meeting be formally included in the official minutes. Check the official minutes on the township website, mantuatownshipohio..gov, for that. It's a reiteration of the disagreement between John Festa and zoning about attendance. More to come later in the meeting.
There were some updates about what has been added to the township website about filing fees for tearing down a building.
Chris Craycraft, Portage Parks Director, was the special guest and presented the case for voting in favor of the parks levy that will be on the ballot in the next election. Chris is the only full time employee of the parks district. One half-time employee does all of the maintenance work on the trails. The budget is $99,500 per year, about half of which comes from private donations. This is not a sustainable model.
The proposed levy is for 1/2 mil, which will cost $1.50 for $100,000 tax value. It will run for 10 years and will bring in $1.63 million per year. Kent's park system has a bigger budget than Portage County does. Half of the revenue would go for maintenance and the rest for capital development. Chris said that we have lost grant money because the budget was too small to come up with the required matching funds, and some very promising areas cannot be fitted up for service as parks or trails because the money is just not there.
Parks help economic development and tourism. We are still pretty rural in Portage County, but time will see us developing. Cuyahoga County is not completely paved over because a park system was established 100 years ago.
Fiscal Officer's Report
[Blogger: For details, check the official minutes after the 3/7 meeting.]
Marie said that we are very tight this year. A resolution had been passed at the last meeting to do the electrical work in the garage. Approval to transfer the funds is needed.
Vic: Is that coming from the $5,000 that we moved at the last meeting?
Marie: I am taking it from Repairs [?] because it is a normal repair.
Vic made the motion, seconded by John Festa and approved by all.
Marie: We also need to have specific approval for an invoice from the Automatic Door Company because it was in December.
Jason made the motion, seconded by John Festa, and approved by all.
Correspondence: There were among others two letters from the prosecutor regarding zoning violations and there were some other things related to zoning.
Roads, Brian Tayerle: The road crew is plowing snow. The roads are beginning to come apart, but the equipment is holding up and salt has been delivered.
Vic asked that Brian put the roads being patched at the top of the materials list.
Brian also mentioned a couple of seminars in Akron to attend, one on asphalt repair.
Jason commented that normally Brian attends a couple of seminars a year, and Vic asked if anything was being offered on equipment procurement.
John Festa: I went past the hillside on Pioneer Trail east of Rt. 44. Are you looking into that for something in the spring? Answer: Yes. It is beginning to slide and we have a couple of ideas.
John Festa also commended the road crew for their work in the past couple of snows, and Jason agreed.
Next on the agenda was the Board of Zoning Appeals, Bob Stehli, chairperson.
Bob: We had the BZA organizational meeting to elect officers and carry out business. I am the chairperson and Joan Martin is the assistant chair. All else remains the same.
We had agreed at the last All Boards meeting to note inconsistencies in the zoning book. Keith Barton, Randy Alger, and Teresa Nielsen have compiled lists that have not yet made it to the zoning commission. Terry Nielsen's are in the minutes.
We discussed problems we are having with the zoning book [which was adopted in December 2011 at a special meeting attended by Todd Peetz, Regional Planning.] We have had three hearings [since the book was adopted]. The problems on the first one have largely been resolved.
[Blogger: This discussion fills 9 pages of my notebook. I will identify the issues raised by the BZA and give some perspective on the development of the zoning book, which was exhaustive and exhausting. If I am correct, the concerns were raised at the All Boards meeting earlier in the year. I will check to see if my memory is correct that there was a general agreement that the Zoning Commission and the BZA would meet and work through the problem areas.]
Issues: Problems with the book seeming unwieldy to us; the zoning inspector has made mistakes; working through it all at a hearing was a roller coaster; there were concerns that if a lawyer were at such a hearing, it would go badly for the township; definitions in the book do not seem to match the ORC exactly.
The possibility was raised of going back to the older book [which is apparently NOT possible, not logically, anyway.]
Bob said the BZA would continue to work with the Zoning Commission, and he allowed that the book made more sense to them because they had spent so much time with it. He was also concerned about what the average citizen of the township would do with the book, since people are expected to consult it when they have something coming up, and the boards were having trouble.
Ultimately, the trustees will have the power and may have some ideas.
Vic: Have you gotten together with the Zoning Commission and went [sic] through it?
Bob: No. We knew we were going to have our organizational meeting and after that we would bet back with the Zoning Commission.
Vic: I wondered if you shouldn't set aside a couple of meetings to go through this with the Zoning Commission.
[Blogger: To me, that should have ended the discussion, with perhaps Bob Stehli and Lynn Harvey on the spot agreeing to dates when they would have joint meetings to work things out. But it didn't end there.]
Jason commented on the situation and said that the board needed to be able to use the book so that a decision would be upheld, and Bob added that that was in the back of one's mind all the time.
Then Jason asked if anyone else had comments, since other members of the BZA were there, and Bob said to go ahead.
Keith Barton launched into a lawyerly analysis and raised the issue of a legal challenge to a finding. That was John Festa's cue:
John Festa: Here is my concern. Bob, you stated t hat even the zoning inspector has made mistakes. If he is making mistakes and you can not get your hands on it, are all of these violations unenforceable? Some of this is moving towards a trial and what is going to happen? Will we go in with our tail between our legs knowing it will be kicked out? [Blogger: At this point, I am not sure that what John Festa just mentioned is anything that the BZA has heard. If it is not, then this question muddies the water.]
Bob: I can't say anything about the litigation we are facing, but this concerns me. Luckily for us, most of the people in the township are not like that. Most felt they got fair treatment and that we were struggling through the book. I am just afraid that we will run into someone along the line that everyone won't be like that.
[Blogger: After a lifetime of teaching, I can tell the world that it is absolutely not possible to anticipate and head off every potential problem that human beings can cause, and there are people in the world who will bring a suit even against the best advice of a lawyer. So being able to avoid every possible suit is something to wish for but probably not achieve.]
John Festa asked about reverting to the old book.
Bob: I am not sure that is possible. The old one seems more simple, but I know the reason to rewrite it was to improve it. Bob also wondered about having a professional clean it up, if such a person is available.
[Blogger: I recently heard a brief account of Todd Peetz's experience. He is a professional, with more depth and breadth of experience than his self-effacing manner suggests. He is well enough thought of in the field that he gets calls with job offers--not what would happen if he were not very well qualified.
And my guess is that outside help of the caliber that it might take is more than we can afford. Even if we were not tight for money.]
Keith Barton voiced some uncertainty as to what to do and some concern about the future under these circumstances and then opined as how maybe the best option is to adopt the old book and then have someone go through every ordinance to see how it would stand up to legal scrutiny. [Note: As a township, we have resolutions. Cities and villages have ordinances.]
At this point, Vic addressed Lynn Harvey:
Vic: Regional Planning was hired to go through this book and is has been through Chris Meduri.
Lynn: It has been looked by other lawyers.
Vic: This was at a cost of $26,000 the first time.
Lynn: The previous directors of Regional Planning went through it. Eventually we got the book back and told them some guidelines like implementing the land use plan. They fixed it and what we got back took a couple of years to fix up what we thought was a finished product. We thought we would check a few pages and we found a number of wrong things. It turned into a nightmare. Regional Planning would keep it for a couple of months. I don't know if they looked at it all. We took on doing the proofreading ourselves rather than having the township pay for it.
When the BZA came to us after the first hearing we looked and tracked their logic and went back to Regional Planning. We fixed that and had a public hearing. There was no BZA hearing after that for a while.
I think we are actually feeling the vacuum created by the loss of John Vechery. He loved the book and thought it was a piece of cake, but using it the first time it might not be a piece of cake. If you discover mistakes, they need to come to the Zoning Commission.
Vic mentioned the Regional Planning office: Lynn Erickson, then Todd Peetz. Claudia James has been on that book from the first.
Lynn: Claudia James spent hours on this. A lot of professionals have weighed in and no one has suggested that it be ripped apart.
Vic: What about the suggestion that (we will have to look at the money) we have some meetings with the Zoning Commission and the BZA to look at it.
Lynn: The BZA can be the host and our board would show up when they advertise it. It would ba a public meeting. Go through and see what we can fix easily. I think This is standard zoning language. Between 1960 and 2000 there is a lot more than when zoning was first instituted. You don't read the book like a novel. Some things do not apply unless you are doing certain things. John Dickey has had some issues. It says right here you must give notice in wiritng and if you don't do that you are not following the book. That is extremely clear.
Vic: This needs to be addressed and not be an overbearing issue.
Keith Barton mentioned the most recent hearing, which involved building a garage onto an older house. The issue was right of way and setbacks to determine the placement of the garage. [Blogger: I am not going to get into all of those details and interpretations; suffice it to say that that discussion continued between Keith and Zoning Commission members after the meeting and out into the parking lot for some time.
Lynn: The Zoning Inspector must go out and measure.
Vic asked a question that I missed, and Keith wanted definitions--except that they may be there, but not exactly where or as he was searching, from what I picked up in bits and pieces.
There was a lot more back and forth, with Keith wanting definitions, John Festa thinking that if Keith as a professional didn't understand it, then how could anyone else, and Jason trying to mediate and Bob saying that he just wanted to get it out on the table.
John Festa: Are we supposed to restrain the Zoning Inspector from doing his job because we don't know answers to these things? [Blogger: Where did that come from? And if John Dickey is having any difficulties with the book, why has he not gone to the Zoning Commission? A trustee who has been in office four years and who is not charged with concentrating on zoning is not going to be able to advise him--much less one who has been in office barely over two years. But here we are.]
Some reasonable statements came forth:
Bob: Time, perseverance, and patience accomplish all things.
Kathy Kelly: If we get to a point in a hearing [where we are unsure--blogger's insertion for clarity] we have to have a continuance.
[Blogger: This is something that no one mentioned until now. I can see the BZA, all of them conscientious, responsible people, doing their best to forge ahead despite the kinds of problems they described in this meeting, believing that they had to do that. But they don't. This is not a criticism; it is a comment about a mindset that is to their credit: This is our job, and we must do it. We will press forward.]
John Festa: I don't want you going into a hearing knowing that you are already unsure.
Vic: I think that if you have your first meeting and set the things you want to work on, we can have Todd Peetz come and maybe talk with Chris Meduri also.
Jason: We will let you guys figure those out. Bring questions and concerns back to the board. [Shouldn't those things be taken to the professionals: Todd Peetz and Chris Meduri?]
Blogger: This is not as concise as I had hoped, but it is shorter than it could have been. Stopping in the middle would have made no sense.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Sardines Have It Easy
This post is actually just a preview of what's to come with a little blogger op ed as well. The blog has set up, in my mind, an obligation to post something probably 3-4 times a week. This one is intended as a useful filler, and I hope it does that for you.
About the post title: Life is too busy until it gets even busier. At the moment, sardines have nothing on my to-do list. The week was shortened by a trip to Dayton for a Heritage Ohio Building Rehabilitation workshop, so there went two days. The workshop was not about physical rehabilitation, but about the business end of things, focused on Historic Preservation Tax Credits. The short story is that non-profit organizations are not eligible for those tax credits, and neither are government entities which own historic properties.
I suppose that last piece of information is one more thing that those hostile to the school building will seize on to argue that we shouldn't keep it, but there are powerful AND LOGICAL arguments for moving forward to keep, renovate, AND USE the building.
The trustees meeting last week included a longish discussion with the Board of Zoning Appeals regarding the Zoning Resolution/Book that was adopted at the end of 2011. The blog, when I get to that part, is not going to present a transcript of my notes, but will be a summary of the points.
Public comment was marked by a completely over-the-top disquisition which you can all evaluate for yourselves.
Brian Savage, the township's insurance agent, presented information about our insurance plan in a special meeting before the regularly scheduled meeting. The best place to get that information will be from the official minutes when they are posted after the next meeting, which will be Friday, March 7, so that Marie can attend a workshop/training session for local fiscal officers in Columbus. [I think that the purpose is stated correctly. Everyone I know of locally with that responsibility is going.]
Without looking at my notes from the last meeting, that's the quick overview. There was some glossing of the brouhaha over the survey that was put out to the public at large in the Record Courier and some more comment on a possible newsletter. To me, there is a lot of emphasis on style and appearance over substance with the current composition of the board.
There was one truly funny incident with absolutely no hooks or barbs that left my heart sore for what we could be and could have but appear to have lost for the foreseeable future.
About the post title: Life is too busy until it gets even busier. At the moment, sardines have nothing on my to-do list. The week was shortened by a trip to Dayton for a Heritage Ohio Building Rehabilitation workshop, so there went two days. The workshop was not about physical rehabilitation, but about the business end of things, focused on Historic Preservation Tax Credits. The short story is that non-profit organizations are not eligible for those tax credits, and neither are government entities which own historic properties.
I suppose that last piece of information is one more thing that those hostile to the school building will seize on to argue that we shouldn't keep it, but there are powerful AND LOGICAL arguments for moving forward to keep, renovate, AND USE the building.
The trustees meeting last week included a longish discussion with the Board of Zoning Appeals regarding the Zoning Resolution/Book that was adopted at the end of 2011. The blog, when I get to that part, is not going to present a transcript of my notes, but will be a summary of the points.
Public comment was marked by a completely over-the-top disquisition which you can all evaluate for yourselves.
Brian Savage, the township's insurance agent, presented information about our insurance plan in a special meeting before the regularly scheduled meeting. The best place to get that information will be from the official minutes when they are posted after the next meeting, which will be Friday, March 7, so that Marie can attend a workshop/training session for local fiscal officers in Columbus. [I think that the purpose is stated correctly. Everyone I know of locally with that responsibility is going.]
Without looking at my notes from the last meeting, that's the quick overview. There was some glossing of the brouhaha over the survey that was put out to the public at large in the Record Courier and some more comment on a possible newsletter. To me, there is a lot of emphasis on style and appearance over substance with the current composition of the board.
There was one truly funny incident with absolutely no hooks or barbs that left my heart sore for what we could be and could have but appear to have lost for the foreseeable future.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Record Courier article & more of the story
[Foreword: To the rue of everyone who publishes anything, nobody reads everything. Since the Thursday, February 13, article in the Record Courier has affected the survey that Todd Peetz has conducted at the request of the trustees, and since you may not have read it, here it is in its entirety except for the photograph. It is put here with the permission of the newspaper.]
Mantua surveyed on school's uses.
Online questionnaire asks what should be done with building on National Register of Historic Places
By Diane Smith, Staff Writer
To get opinions on its old school, Mantua Township is going decidedly "new school."
The Portage County Regional Planning Commission has asked the community to fill out an online survey to determine what ought to become of the landmark Mantua Center School.
The century-old building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Todd Peetz, director of the Portage County Regional Planning Commission, said the commission was asked by township trustees to facilitate the discussion, and is doing so at no cost to the township, using the township's technical assistance hours.
The survey, at Surveymonkey.com, asks respondents to rank from one to five various proposed uses, such as township or sheriff's offices, a community center, to house a non-profit, general office space, a business incubator, day care center, a place for classes, retail, museums, or a hall for special events.
It also asks them to specify other uses, what other uses would help the Mantua-Shalersville area, and if they know of people or businesses looking for space.
Replies will be accepted through Tuesday. [Blogger: That was February 18.]
The township purchased the building from the Crestwood Local School District a decade ago, when the school district opened its new primary and intermediate schools. The lease purchase agreement will be paid off this year, Peetz said.
The building consists of nine rooms, including seven classrooms. Other than offices for the township's fiscal officer and zoning inspector, a long-term use hasn't been determined, and the size of some rooms makes the building difficult to rent. *
The future of the old township school, located north of S.R. 82 on Mantua Center Road, has been a major community topic for several years. Some in the community want to see the building used for a variety of purposes. Others believe the township has already spent too much money on the old school house.
The Regional Planning Commission sponsored meetings on the school in October and January [Blogger: Reported in The Weekly Villager and, I believe, The Community Journal] , and a third meeting** is tentatively set for Feb. 20 to go over the results of the survey and discuss recommendations.
"Most people said they want to see it saved," Peetz said. "They don't want to see it torn down. There's a lot of sentimental value. A lot of people say they want it to be used as a community center, for youth or seniors."
However, Peetz said he has suggested income producing uses, such as a flea market or consignment shop, to help the township pay for maintenance.
Peetz said there are issues with wheelchair access, prompting talk about an elevator. The building may need to tap into the sewer system, and the heating system is 25 years old, with no air conditioning.
"There are a lot of things that need to be done," he said. "The challenge is how do you do it without it becoming a money pit?"
The survey is at www.surveymonkey.com/s/KYJHHVJ.
[Diane Smith's contact information is given at the end of the article.]
Blogger: OK, let's start at the end and work back through several things.
First, Todd Peetz did not give Ms Smith the link to the survey, which was intended for the Chamber of Commerce in order to get input from business and community leaders and possibly realtors. As a result of the link being published, the survey became invalid as an inventory of the views of a targeted group. The effort Todd put into that section of the survey was therefore wasted.
Second, Todd did not remember saying anything about the school being a money pit. [However, that term has been used liberally in the hostile comments about the building in a number of township meetings and elsewhere. And its position as the last statement about the discussion with Todd ends the article on a very negative note.] Todd also felt that the overall tone of the article gave the impression that he was more negative about the school building than he is, since he said that he tries to be value neutral in his approach to issues.
It should be clear from the above two paragraphs that I talked with Todd about the article. He was amazingly forthcoming about the whole thing.
Sewer system
The comment about tapping into the sewer system (which goes down S.R. 82) did not come up in our conversation, but I had investigated that to some extent when that sewer line was installed. The school has its own septic system which handled the needs of several hundred students a day for years. Vic Grimm became certified, is the operator of record for that system, has filed all necessary reports, and has kept it operating properly. His taking on that responsibility saves the township all of the fees that would be required if those services were contracted out--something like $1500/year, if I remember correctly.
There is another piece to this tapping into the sewer system, which has been brought up during public comment and was also mentioned in the study conducted in 2002 regarding renovating the school for use as a school. That is the study that came out to $1.6 million for renovation and which John Festa has referred to several times. A good many people believe that this is a ploy to convince people that the building will be too expensive.
Tapping into the system would cost at least $25,000, according to my discussion with someone at the County level, and that is without running into problems. Doing that would also require everyone on School Lane and on Center Road to the place where Wayne comes in (I believe) to tap into the sewer line. Then there would be use fees. The argument about the sewer line gets pulled in whenever the intention is to put a negative spin on the building's age.
Now for the asterisks.
*Difficult to rent: Rooms can be reconfigured and partitioned. Again, this did not come up in my conversation with Todd. He has certainly been involved in enough building projects to have seen many interior changes made to improve usability. This is another negative slant. So is the repetition of "old."
**The Feb. 20 date. That was a regularly scheduled trustees meeting, not a special community meeting, as implied in the article. This is one of several phrases that make me wonder if Ms Smith talked to someone in addition to Todd without mentioning that person.
Perspective
For anyone in close, all of this is important and meaningful, and many of us are highly skeptical about a number of things. For anyone not in close, this post may seem a bit much. However, the fullness of time will clarify many questions.
The results of Todd's work will be presented at the first trustees' meeting in March, which will not be the regular date. Because of the role the newspaper article played before February and because it was at least mentioned at that meeting, I wanted to give any blog reader who had not seen the article a chance to do so.
The next trustees' meeting, at which Todd Peetz intends to present the results of his information gathering, will be Friday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the Township Hall unless something bumps the time.
Mantua surveyed on school's uses.
Online questionnaire asks what should be done with building on National Register of Historic Places
By Diane Smith, Staff Writer
To get opinions on its old school, Mantua Township is going decidedly "new school."
The Portage County Regional Planning Commission has asked the community to fill out an online survey to determine what ought to become of the landmark Mantua Center School.
The century-old building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Todd Peetz, director of the Portage County Regional Planning Commission, said the commission was asked by township trustees to facilitate the discussion, and is doing so at no cost to the township, using the township's technical assistance hours.
The survey, at Surveymonkey.com, asks respondents to rank from one to five various proposed uses, such as township or sheriff's offices, a community center, to house a non-profit, general office space, a business incubator, day care center, a place for classes, retail, museums, or a hall for special events.
It also asks them to specify other uses, what other uses would help the Mantua-Shalersville area, and if they know of people or businesses looking for space.
Replies will be accepted through Tuesday. [Blogger: That was February 18.]
The township purchased the building from the Crestwood Local School District a decade ago, when the school district opened its new primary and intermediate schools. The lease purchase agreement will be paid off this year, Peetz said.
The building consists of nine rooms, including seven classrooms. Other than offices for the township's fiscal officer and zoning inspector, a long-term use hasn't been determined, and the size of some rooms makes the building difficult to rent. *
The future of the old township school, located north of S.R. 82 on Mantua Center Road, has been a major community topic for several years. Some in the community want to see the building used for a variety of purposes. Others believe the township has already spent too much money on the old school house.
The Regional Planning Commission sponsored meetings on the school in October and January [Blogger: Reported in The Weekly Villager and, I believe, The Community Journal] , and a third meeting** is tentatively set for Feb. 20 to go over the results of the survey and discuss recommendations.
"Most people said they want to see it saved," Peetz said. "They don't want to see it torn down. There's a lot of sentimental value. A lot of people say they want it to be used as a community center, for youth or seniors."
However, Peetz said he has suggested income producing uses, such as a flea market or consignment shop, to help the township pay for maintenance.
Peetz said there are issues with wheelchair access, prompting talk about an elevator. The building may need to tap into the sewer system, and the heating system is 25 years old, with no air conditioning.
"There are a lot of things that need to be done," he said. "The challenge is how do you do it without it becoming a money pit?"
The survey is at www.surveymonkey.com/s/KYJHHVJ.
[Diane Smith's contact information is given at the end of the article.]
Blogger: OK, let's start at the end and work back through several things.
First, Todd Peetz did not give Ms Smith the link to the survey, which was intended for the Chamber of Commerce in order to get input from business and community leaders and possibly realtors. As a result of the link being published, the survey became invalid as an inventory of the views of a targeted group. The effort Todd put into that section of the survey was therefore wasted.
Second, Todd did not remember saying anything about the school being a money pit. [However, that term has been used liberally in the hostile comments about the building in a number of township meetings and elsewhere. And its position as the last statement about the discussion with Todd ends the article on a very negative note.] Todd also felt that the overall tone of the article gave the impression that he was more negative about the school building than he is, since he said that he tries to be value neutral in his approach to issues.
It should be clear from the above two paragraphs that I talked with Todd about the article. He was amazingly forthcoming about the whole thing.
Sewer system
The comment about tapping into the sewer system (which goes down S.R. 82) did not come up in our conversation, but I had investigated that to some extent when that sewer line was installed. The school has its own septic system which handled the needs of several hundred students a day for years. Vic Grimm became certified, is the operator of record for that system, has filed all necessary reports, and has kept it operating properly. His taking on that responsibility saves the township all of the fees that would be required if those services were contracted out--something like $1500/year, if I remember correctly.
There is another piece to this tapping into the sewer system, which has been brought up during public comment and was also mentioned in the study conducted in 2002 regarding renovating the school for use as a school. That is the study that came out to $1.6 million for renovation and which John Festa has referred to several times. A good many people believe that this is a ploy to convince people that the building will be too expensive.
Tapping into the system would cost at least $25,000, according to my discussion with someone at the County level, and that is without running into problems. Doing that would also require everyone on School Lane and on Center Road to the place where Wayne comes in (I believe) to tap into the sewer line. Then there would be use fees. The argument about the sewer line gets pulled in whenever the intention is to put a negative spin on the building's age.
Now for the asterisks.
*Difficult to rent: Rooms can be reconfigured and partitioned. Again, this did not come up in my conversation with Todd. He has certainly been involved in enough building projects to have seen many interior changes made to improve usability. This is another negative slant. So is the repetition of "old."
**The Feb. 20 date. That was a regularly scheduled trustees meeting, not a special community meeting, as implied in the article. This is one of several phrases that make me wonder if Ms Smith talked to someone in addition to Todd without mentioning that person.
Perspective
For anyone in close, all of this is important and meaningful, and many of us are highly skeptical about a number of things. For anyone not in close, this post may seem a bit much. However, the fullness of time will clarify many questions.
The results of Todd's work will be presented at the first trustees' meeting in March, which will not be the regular date. Because of the role the newspaper article played before February and because it was at least mentioned at that meeting, I wanted to give any blog reader who had not seen the article a chance to do so.
The next trustees' meeting, at which Todd Peetz intends to present the results of his information gathering, will be Friday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the Township Hall unless something bumps the time.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Survey Report scheduled for March 7
Todd Peetz will discuss the results of the survey(s) about the use of the Mantua Center school building at the March 7, 2014, trustees meeting, a Friday, to accommodate a workshop in Columbus that Marie Stehli will be taking.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Stay Tuned
This is for readers of the blog who are not on my blog contact list. Once a little more dust has settled, the blog will have a "rest of the story" account of the flurry set off by the article in the Ravenna Record Courier last Thursday.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Mantua Twp. 2-6-14
Blogger Foreword: Except for catching typographical errors as I made them, this post has not been proofread. I have enjoyed as much of it as I can stand at this point. Proofreading can come a bit later.
Trustees' Reports, continued.
Vic: I got a quote on the electric for the heaters in the south bay of t he garage. We only ordered the one to see how it would work. We can run a 100-amp service there. The garage door opener and the fuel tank just about use up the capacity.
Also, for the new furnaces, put in a double switch so each can be controlled.
The bid came to $1552 for Frank Horack, Jr. The major expense is the wire.
Vic explained about how upgrades can be handled. We will have to go through the wall no matter what we do.
To Marie: Do we have enough money for it?
Marie: I was just looking at two funds. Right now we don't have anything in the two funds it should come from.
Jason: We can take it out of Contractors.
There was some discussion about taking $5,000 and moving it.
Vic: What about the County license fund? Was anything left there to move?
Marie: I was going to put that into Materials. But if you want to put it into Sites, we can do that. [The amount designated to be moved was $5,000.
Vic made a motion to accept the proposal from Aurora Mantua Electric (Frank Jr.) for $1564 to put service into the south bay of the garage. Jason seconded; unanimous.
Jason: I also forgot to mention this under New Business. A township resident asked about rental of the annex. He is in a group that plays basketball sporadically at the intermediate and primary schools. They have 8-10 people that play from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. November through March. His proposal was if they could, for basketball, their group would repair the baskets in the gym/annex. We have 4 or 5 baskets. They might do some additional work in the annex as it relates to basketball. They would donate the labor and materials in exchange for rent at no charge.
Vic: I had somewhat the same request about making the full court.[?] It will need something fabricated to make it look right. I wonder if it is the same person. I will take a look at it and see what we come up with at the next meeting.
Jason: At the first blush, it didn't look that good, but if we had a full court basketball facility, it may be more attractive to people who want to rent. Right now people use the facilities at the primary and intermediate schools. There is no charge, but it is hard to get a time slot. Apparently Shalersville has gotten the same inquiry.
Vic: It will take moving one of the backboards.
John Festa had no opposition to it.
Jason: If we fix it properly, maybe basketball leagues could be held in there.
[Blogger: Two things: This is an interesting and positive idea. Second, after 4 years in office, why has Jason just thought of this--after someone else proposes it, that is? After all, he did run in 2009 with a promise of working to get us into the school.]
Jason, continuing: If there wee league nights, maybe we can get some revenue.
Marie: As long as it is not the night before the election. They [the basketballers] need to know that it will not be available the night before any election.
Old Business: Revisit the Zoning FAQ page. Jason asked John Dickey to go through the changes.
John Dickey: [It is] Based on questions people called me with. People from out of town can look at the zoning book online to see what they are getting into. Get together with the road crew and put out something about what the road crew would like for people to do or not to do. [Blogger: For example: In the past, one of the quirky but actually troublesome things was that one resident insisted on raking all of the leaves on his property into the ditch. The ditches are for drainage, not for dumping things.]
Vic and John Festa thought the mockup looked pretty good.
Zoning Fee Schedule: John Dickey had stated that some additional fees were needed.
Vic had a revised version for filing fees based on square footage. Jason had looked at it before and thought it looked fine.
Vic made a motion to amend the zoning fee schedule as of 2/6/14, prices to be effective as of that date.
Jason seconded. Unanimous.
Vic: I will need everybody to sign it.
Rental Agreement Regarding Alcohol Policy.
Vic: I called him back today and it is in the hands of their legal department.
Fiscal Officer Office update:
Vic: I am working on the heat. There were a couple of issues. It is pretty cold there today. I am waiting for a price on a couple of components. Some things [materials and adhesives] won't dry out [right now]. I am working on the ceiling area. I have some holes to fill in. It is a suspended ceiling. I explect in the next couple of months to have it finished. I have a HEPA filter.
Town Hall, Vic: I got a call from Steve Coon inquiring about how things are going here.
Public Comment began at 9:15.
Mary Ellen (Derthick) Hamlin: I was at a middle school function and some folks behind me were reminiscing about going to school here and wondering what is being done with that building and someone said there is a Senior Center. I told them that the building is functional and offices are there and they are renting. Maybe some signage should go up over there. [Blogger's emphasis. Mary Ellen had made a similar remark at the end of the Todd Peetz meeting at the Civic Center, but it got lost in the shuffle of people getting up and ready to leave.]
Carole Pollard, 5359 Allyn Road: {This is a summary of my remarks; the content is more important than verbatim transcription here.] I took issue with the ongoing remarks about the zoning records being a mess. It is bad form and unmannerly to speak ill of someone who served the township conscientiously for 30 years and who is now gone. Other people, not universally loved, have also died, and no one has said anything against them now that they are gone.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: Sincere congratulations on the birth of your daughter, Jason. I hope both mother and daughter are healthy.
A newsletter is going to cost you a couple of thousand dollars a year. It cost $600 plus for the zoning survey for the land use plan [in 1998 or 1999]. Bulk mailing will run about 30 cents a copy. However, since you are apparently turning the zoning inspector into a revenue contractor, you might take it out of that.
I keep hearing money money money from zoning and more regulations. That can have a backlash from people in a rural township.
Again, congratulations on the birth of your daughter.
Dawn Pechman (no address given): Dawn asked a question of Vic about zoning and the separation of roles between trustees and zoning commission: Did the prosecutor tell the trustees to stay out of the business of zoning?
Vic: Until it comes to the trustees.
Dawn asked why.
Vic: First there has to be a hearing and then it comes to the board.
Dawn to Jason and John Festa: Did either of you get copies of that?
John Festa: No.
Jason: I got the book
Dawn: [To John Festa again] They didn't just give you one? I have been reading about this implementation included re-writing the zoning resolution and having an annual meeting to keep things updated. Have a recreation committee.
[Blogger: Obviously Dawn is blaming someone for all of these transgressions, but Jason has been chair for two years now. If this is a problem, why has she not simply asked him?
[Second: In regard to the position John Festa has adopted that he has somehow been slighted by not getting a book: He attended meetings for a number of years before being drafted to run for office. He had ample time to learn about various books and documents and procedures in the township. Did he never ask Marie, for example, what things he would need to have in hand in order to try to do his job as trustee?]
Dawn, continuing: I have been criticized for asking for it. Now we are going to implement it. The zoning commission is going to study Roundup Lake for mixed use and I think that is way above their heads.
[Blogger: I think if anyone got resumes for the members of the commission, with both their education and their experience in zoning, this opinion of Dawn's would collapse. If you have not read the post on the All Boards meeting, you might give it a look.]
Dawn to John Festa: I think it is good for what you said tonight. [Blogger: I am not sure I translated my notes correctly for that. After that comment, Dawn reverted to her hobby horse of public records, and I tuned out.]
Dawn, continuing: Do I understand that there is no Fiscal Officer e-mail? Then she asked Vic about his e-mail.
Vic replied that he has not set it up yet.
[Note: Over a year ago, Jason said flat out to Dawn in a meeting that he got more e-mails from her than from everyone else combined. There's a thought to conjure with.]
Steve Zielinski, S.R. 82: My family and I want to congratulate you [also about the birth of Jason's daughter.]
I was thinking about the newsletter--what about advertising. That might pay for the whole thing.
At 9:24 the trustees began to pay the bills. Usually I leave then, but this meeting had not dragged on, and some of us just chatted for a little. I observed something interesting during that time: Brent Simon went up to the front table and talked with John Festa and Jason. Stacy Turner, reporter for The Weekly Villager, also went up to the table--but she was talking with Vic about the situation with the road salt. That pretty well tells the story: two trustees were talking about image, and one was discussing the actual workings of the township which have a bearing on how well the residents are served.
There was no executive session or further business.
Trustees' Reports, continued.
Vic: I got a quote on the electric for the heaters in the south bay of t he garage. We only ordered the one to see how it would work. We can run a 100-amp service there. The garage door opener and the fuel tank just about use up the capacity.
Also, for the new furnaces, put in a double switch so each can be controlled.
The bid came to $1552 for Frank Horack, Jr. The major expense is the wire.
Vic explained about how upgrades can be handled. We will have to go through the wall no matter what we do.
To Marie: Do we have enough money for it?
Marie: I was just looking at two funds. Right now we don't have anything in the two funds it should come from.
Jason: We can take it out of Contractors.
There was some discussion about taking $5,000 and moving it.
Vic: What about the County license fund? Was anything left there to move?
Marie: I was going to put that into Materials. But if you want to put it into Sites, we can do that. [The amount designated to be moved was $5,000.
Vic made a motion to accept the proposal from Aurora Mantua Electric (Frank Jr.) for $1564 to put service into the south bay of the garage. Jason seconded; unanimous.
Jason: I also forgot to mention this under New Business. A township resident asked about rental of the annex. He is in a group that plays basketball sporadically at the intermediate and primary schools. They have 8-10 people that play from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. November through March. His proposal was if they could, for basketball, their group would repair the baskets in the gym/annex. We have 4 or 5 baskets. They might do some additional work in the annex as it relates to basketball. They would donate the labor and materials in exchange for rent at no charge.
Vic: I had somewhat the same request about making the full court.[?] It will need something fabricated to make it look right. I wonder if it is the same person. I will take a look at it and see what we come up with at the next meeting.
Jason: At the first blush, it didn't look that good, but if we had a full court basketball facility, it may be more attractive to people who want to rent. Right now people use the facilities at the primary and intermediate schools. There is no charge, but it is hard to get a time slot. Apparently Shalersville has gotten the same inquiry.
Vic: It will take moving one of the backboards.
John Festa had no opposition to it.
Jason: If we fix it properly, maybe basketball leagues could be held in there.
[Blogger: Two things: This is an interesting and positive idea. Second, after 4 years in office, why has Jason just thought of this--after someone else proposes it, that is? After all, he did run in 2009 with a promise of working to get us into the school.]
Jason, continuing: If there wee league nights, maybe we can get some revenue.
Marie: As long as it is not the night before the election. They [the basketballers] need to know that it will not be available the night before any election.
Old Business: Revisit the Zoning FAQ page. Jason asked John Dickey to go through the changes.
John Dickey: [It is] Based on questions people called me with. People from out of town can look at the zoning book online to see what they are getting into. Get together with the road crew and put out something about what the road crew would like for people to do or not to do. [Blogger: For example: In the past, one of the quirky but actually troublesome things was that one resident insisted on raking all of the leaves on his property into the ditch. The ditches are for drainage, not for dumping things.]
Vic and John Festa thought the mockup looked pretty good.
Zoning Fee Schedule: John Dickey had stated that some additional fees were needed.
Vic had a revised version for filing fees based on square footage. Jason had looked at it before and thought it looked fine.
Vic made a motion to amend the zoning fee schedule as of 2/6/14, prices to be effective as of that date.
Jason seconded. Unanimous.
Vic: I will need everybody to sign it.
Rental Agreement Regarding Alcohol Policy.
Vic: I called him back today and it is in the hands of their legal department.
Fiscal Officer Office update:
Vic: I am working on the heat. There were a couple of issues. It is pretty cold there today. I am waiting for a price on a couple of components. Some things [materials and adhesives] won't dry out [right now]. I am working on the ceiling area. I have some holes to fill in. It is a suspended ceiling. I explect in the next couple of months to have it finished. I have a HEPA filter.
Town Hall, Vic: I got a call from Steve Coon inquiring about how things are going here.
Public Comment began at 9:15.
Mary Ellen (Derthick) Hamlin: I was at a middle school function and some folks behind me were reminiscing about going to school here and wondering what is being done with that building and someone said there is a Senior Center. I told them that the building is functional and offices are there and they are renting. Maybe some signage should go up over there. [Blogger's emphasis. Mary Ellen had made a similar remark at the end of the Todd Peetz meeting at the Civic Center, but it got lost in the shuffle of people getting up and ready to leave.]
Carole Pollard, 5359 Allyn Road: {This is a summary of my remarks; the content is more important than verbatim transcription here.] I took issue with the ongoing remarks about the zoning records being a mess. It is bad form and unmannerly to speak ill of someone who served the township conscientiously for 30 years and who is now gone. Other people, not universally loved, have also died, and no one has said anything against them now that they are gone.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: Sincere congratulations on the birth of your daughter, Jason. I hope both mother and daughter are healthy.
A newsletter is going to cost you a couple of thousand dollars a year. It cost $600 plus for the zoning survey for the land use plan [in 1998 or 1999]. Bulk mailing will run about 30 cents a copy. However, since you are apparently turning the zoning inspector into a revenue contractor, you might take it out of that.
I keep hearing money money money from zoning and more regulations. That can have a backlash from people in a rural township.
Again, congratulations on the birth of your daughter.
Dawn Pechman (no address given): Dawn asked a question of Vic about zoning and the separation of roles between trustees and zoning commission: Did the prosecutor tell the trustees to stay out of the business of zoning?
Vic: Until it comes to the trustees.
Dawn asked why.
Vic: First there has to be a hearing and then it comes to the board.
Dawn to Jason and John Festa: Did either of you get copies of that?
John Festa: No.
Jason: I got the book
Dawn: [To John Festa again] They didn't just give you one? I have been reading about this implementation included re-writing the zoning resolution and having an annual meeting to keep things updated. Have a recreation committee.
[Blogger: Obviously Dawn is blaming someone for all of these transgressions, but Jason has been chair for two years now. If this is a problem, why has she not simply asked him?
[Second: In regard to the position John Festa has adopted that he has somehow been slighted by not getting a book: He attended meetings for a number of years before being drafted to run for office. He had ample time to learn about various books and documents and procedures in the township. Did he never ask Marie, for example, what things he would need to have in hand in order to try to do his job as trustee?]
Dawn, continuing: I have been criticized for asking for it. Now we are going to implement it. The zoning commission is going to study Roundup Lake for mixed use and I think that is way above their heads.
[Blogger: I think if anyone got resumes for the members of the commission, with both their education and their experience in zoning, this opinion of Dawn's would collapse. If you have not read the post on the All Boards meeting, you might give it a look.]
Dawn to John Festa: I think it is good for what you said tonight. [Blogger: I am not sure I translated my notes correctly for that. After that comment, Dawn reverted to her hobby horse of public records, and I tuned out.]
Dawn, continuing: Do I understand that there is no Fiscal Officer e-mail? Then she asked Vic about his e-mail.
Vic replied that he has not set it up yet.
[Note: Over a year ago, Jason said flat out to Dawn in a meeting that he got more e-mails from her than from everyone else combined. There's a thought to conjure with.]
Steve Zielinski, S.R. 82: My family and I want to congratulate you [also about the birth of Jason's daughter.]
I was thinking about the newsletter--what about advertising. That might pay for the whole thing.
At 9:24 the trustees began to pay the bills. Usually I leave then, but this meeting had not dragged on, and some of us just chatted for a little. I observed something interesting during that time: Brent Simon went up to the front table and talked with John Festa and Jason. Stacy Turner, reporter for The Weekly Villager, also went up to the table--but she was talking with Vic about the situation with the road salt. That pretty well tells the story: two trustees were talking about image, and one was discussing the actual workings of the township which have a bearing on how well the residents are served.
There was no executive session or further business.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Trustees, 2-6-14--Quibbles re Zoning Commission
Trustees Reports began at 8:35 with John Festa's remarks.
John Festa: All Boards Meeting. I had some questions that I need to get familiar with.
First, talk of the land use plan. I have not gotten a copy yet. I know it has been around for quite a while. Has it ever been implemented?
Vic: Portions of it have been.
John Festa: Have there been any resolutions on it?
Vic: Yes. It is basically implemented.
John Festa: Is there an ongoing basis for review?
Vic: It depends on the community. Todd Peetz said that Kent or Aurora has not looked at theirs for 20 years.
John Festa reiterated that he had not received a copy yet.
Marie: I probably have a master, but have not been able to get into the office.
[Blogger: What follows is the crux of what John Festa had to say. If you have not read Lynn Harvey's letter posted in the blog earlier, this would be a good time to do it. Also, Terri Vechery's article in the February 6 Community Journal has an almost verbatim account.]
John Festa: I also want to review the letter that was read by Lynn Harvey at the meeting. Some of the points that were made on the alternates and amount of time they spend at the meetings.
He reviewed the number of times the alternates were seated at the 124 zoning meetings that had been held.
Then he broke it down to percentages--34% and 41%. Combined, it came to 37-1/2% for the alternates.[Blogger: These percentages were for number of times seated, I believe.]
The commission members had 62-1/2%. I wanted to let everyone know that our appointed members have attended 62-1/2% of the time. Appointed members should consider upping their attendance at these meetings. I had no idea attendance was so low. [Blogger: He signs the checks. How is it that he doesn't know what is going on?]
Continuing: Six "no quorum" meetings were avoided because we had two alternates available. If Lynn Harvey had been here, I would have asked her [about] that.
Continuing: The last point was reports to the trustees for zoning commission meetings. I would like to propose that we require a report every month or at least have their meetings submitted to the trustees. I would also like to propose that we are informed about the attendance as well.
[Blogger: Is this a request for information, or is it simply a desire to hold court?]
Continuing: The BZA: Some of their concerns were time [between hearings]. Maybe we can provide them with some materials that they can review or that we can purchase for them to do mock hearings. They were concerned about the time between their meetings. I don't know how the board feels. [Blogger: With two lawyers on the BZA, I bet they can come up with something without help.]
Jason: I think that mock sessions would be up to them. Any trainings that come out are offered to both boards. I have not seen any of those cross the table in a while.
Vic: Usually those are _____.[Blogger's miss.] The prosecutor's office has not done anything for quite some time.
John Festa: How does the board feel about requiring monthly reports?
Vic: Do you want their minutes? That would explain everything. As far as attendance, Marie gets those.
John Festa: I think we are entitled. [Blogger's emphasis. I believe this word is fraught with meaning for this trustee.]
Jason: I/we get a checkbox when we sign the checks.
John Festa: The Zoning Inspector and sexton provide us with reports.
[Blogger: Of course they do. They are individuals and do not have meetings that produce minutes. If the trustees are to be informed about their activities, those individuals have to report.]
John Festa, continuing: I think we should know more what our boards are doing.
[Blogger: On to dropping the other shoe.]
John Festa: The last thing is our township getting our message out to the public. I noticed a lot of times that we do not have any time to get the trustees' message out as it comes to the board. There are unauthorized websites and blogs and social media filling the air waves. We do not provide any recording of our own meetings. Those are provided by an unauthorized website [on which Trustee Festa has been listed as a supporter. What's the problem now?]
There are people that don't even know we have purchased a piece of equipment and don't know when the meetings are. Our website has information that is not up to date. I think on our website we should have a trustees' corner or a way to discuss things important to us. Some reporting has not been particularly fair to the trustees. I have some issues with that.
[Blogger: I guess it depends on whose ox is being gored as to whether that unauthorized website is just great or not satisfactory. Let me make this really clear: After that website was created, there were concerted efforts to make Vic and Mark look as bad as possible. It was brutally done by a lifelong bully and his buddies and painful to watch. When the challenge is merely to be accountable-- and those challenged come up short, whether on website or blog--it isn't fair. Dear me.]
John Festa, continuing: I thought that perhaps the board could come up with ways we could get things out to the community. Maybe a newsletter. [That's the shoe.] We don't even have a logo that distinguishes us. We probably need to improve somewhat on our website. We want to be the one who gets the message out. I don't want to be second place. Are you happy with this?
Jason: You had mentioned a newsletter before. Crestwood has a mailed one. We can not do something monthly. Maybe quarterly. I hear what you are saying. There are mixed messages from various sources. If it came from the board it would be better.
[Blogger: The messages aren't mixed at all. The people who post on the unauthorized website--which John Festa has supported and that our own webmaster also manages-- those people systematically and with the courage born of anonymity say anything they please, no matter how ugly, vicious, untrue or just wrong. Their targets: anyone who disagrees with them, no matter how impeccable of character or dedicated service to the township.
[Your faithful blogger gives the history and backstory to some of the public things and voices her opinion of illogic and ignorance with--trust me--a large degree of self-restraint. A large degree. And I can tell you what my opinion is based on in the behavior of those I am criticizing. I think that actually qualifies as a conclusion.]
John Festa: You never see anything about improvements on the roads or how we are saving money. [Eh? Saving money?]
Jason: Some other townships publish a letter. Maybe we can see what they do.
Betsy Wolfe: Betsy said something about "Mantua Matters."
Vic: Our minutes are being put up on the website.
Marie: That is the official record.
John Festa: But on the official record you can't be specific. Things are not reported in the minutes. [Blogger: Now, there's a tantalizing comment!]
Marie: You can add to the minutes.
John Festa: I think the community deserves better from us. [Blogger: I agree. I just don't think that John Festa and I can agree on what "better" might mean.]
Jason: Bring some proposals.
Marie: We don't have enough money to pay for what we've got.
John Festa: What does that mean? Does it mean not get the word out?
Marie: You wanted to have a website for that purpose--make sure the website covers it. Isn't that the purpose of it?
John Festa: It is. So improve the website.
Jason. Bring something back.
John Festa: I want to make sure that people are informed. I do (would?) want to be informed, and I can't piece that together from what is on our website. I have no clue.
Jason: We have a direct line to Brent Simon. If you want things updated, update them.
[Blogger: A couple of things: Someone who spoke with me afterwards thought that the two junior trustees had thrown our webmaster under the bus. I have my doubts about that. The state of affairs in the township makes it difficult to believe that anything is what it seems. I have been in too many meetings that were clearly just stagecraft.
Second, Brent is not responsible for what is on the website. He simply puts on what he is told to put on. Or that is all he should do. If John Festa is not satisfied with our website, who took the lead to work on it with Brent? It wasn't Vic.]
John Festa: All Boards Meeting. I had some questions that I need to get familiar with.
First, talk of the land use plan. I have not gotten a copy yet. I know it has been around for quite a while. Has it ever been implemented?
Vic: Portions of it have been.
John Festa: Have there been any resolutions on it?
Vic: Yes. It is basically implemented.
John Festa: Is there an ongoing basis for review?
Vic: It depends on the community. Todd Peetz said that Kent or Aurora has not looked at theirs for 20 years.
John Festa reiterated that he had not received a copy yet.
Marie: I probably have a master, but have not been able to get into the office.
[Blogger: What follows is the crux of what John Festa had to say. If you have not read Lynn Harvey's letter posted in the blog earlier, this would be a good time to do it. Also, Terri Vechery's article in the February 6 Community Journal has an almost verbatim account.]
John Festa: I also want to review the letter that was read by Lynn Harvey at the meeting. Some of the points that were made on the alternates and amount of time they spend at the meetings.
He reviewed the number of times the alternates were seated at the 124 zoning meetings that had been held.
Then he broke it down to percentages--34% and 41%. Combined, it came to 37-1/2% for the alternates.[Blogger: These percentages were for number of times seated, I believe.]
The commission members had 62-1/2%. I wanted to let everyone know that our appointed members have attended 62-1/2% of the time. Appointed members should consider upping their attendance at these meetings. I had no idea attendance was so low. [Blogger: He signs the checks. How is it that he doesn't know what is going on?]
Continuing: Six "no quorum" meetings were avoided because we had two alternates available. If Lynn Harvey had been here, I would have asked her [about] that.
Continuing: The last point was reports to the trustees for zoning commission meetings. I would like to propose that we require a report every month or at least have their meetings submitted to the trustees. I would also like to propose that we are informed about the attendance as well.
[Blogger: Is this a request for information, or is it simply a desire to hold court?]
Continuing: The BZA: Some of their concerns were time [between hearings]. Maybe we can provide them with some materials that they can review or that we can purchase for them to do mock hearings. They were concerned about the time between their meetings. I don't know how the board feels. [Blogger: With two lawyers on the BZA, I bet they can come up with something without help.]
Jason: I think that mock sessions would be up to them. Any trainings that come out are offered to both boards. I have not seen any of those cross the table in a while.
Vic: Usually those are _____.[Blogger's miss.] The prosecutor's office has not done anything for quite some time.
John Festa: How does the board feel about requiring monthly reports?
Vic: Do you want their minutes? That would explain everything. As far as attendance, Marie gets those.
John Festa: I think we are entitled. [Blogger's emphasis. I believe this word is fraught with meaning for this trustee.]
Jason: I/we get a checkbox when we sign the checks.
John Festa: The Zoning Inspector and sexton provide us with reports.
[Blogger: Of course they do. They are individuals and do not have meetings that produce minutes. If the trustees are to be informed about their activities, those individuals have to report.]
John Festa, continuing: I think we should know more what our boards are doing.
[Blogger: On to dropping the other shoe.]
John Festa: The last thing is our township getting our message out to the public. I noticed a lot of times that we do not have any time to get the trustees' message out as it comes to the board. There are unauthorized websites and blogs and social media filling the air waves. We do not provide any recording of our own meetings. Those are provided by an unauthorized website [on which Trustee Festa has been listed as a supporter. What's the problem now?]
There are people that don't even know we have purchased a piece of equipment and don't know when the meetings are. Our website has information that is not up to date. I think on our website we should have a trustees' corner or a way to discuss things important to us. Some reporting has not been particularly fair to the trustees. I have some issues with that.
[Blogger: I guess it depends on whose ox is being gored as to whether that unauthorized website is just great or not satisfactory. Let me make this really clear: After that website was created, there were concerted efforts to make Vic and Mark look as bad as possible. It was brutally done by a lifelong bully and his buddies and painful to watch. When the challenge is merely to be accountable-- and those challenged come up short, whether on website or blog--it isn't fair. Dear me.]
John Festa, continuing: I thought that perhaps the board could come up with ways we could get things out to the community. Maybe a newsletter. [That's the shoe.] We don't even have a logo that distinguishes us. We probably need to improve somewhat on our website. We want to be the one who gets the message out. I don't want to be second place. Are you happy with this?
Jason: You had mentioned a newsletter before. Crestwood has a mailed one. We can not do something monthly. Maybe quarterly. I hear what you are saying. There are mixed messages from various sources. If it came from the board it would be better.
[Blogger: The messages aren't mixed at all. The people who post on the unauthorized website--which John Festa has supported and that our own webmaster also manages-- those people systematically and with the courage born of anonymity say anything they please, no matter how ugly, vicious, untrue or just wrong. Their targets: anyone who disagrees with them, no matter how impeccable of character or dedicated service to the township.
[Your faithful blogger gives the history and backstory to some of the public things and voices her opinion of illogic and ignorance with--trust me--a large degree of self-restraint. A large degree. And I can tell you what my opinion is based on in the behavior of those I am criticizing. I think that actually qualifies as a conclusion.]
John Festa: You never see anything about improvements on the roads or how we are saving money. [Eh? Saving money?]
Jason: Some other townships publish a letter. Maybe we can see what they do.
Betsy Wolfe: Betsy said something about "Mantua Matters."
Vic: Our minutes are being put up on the website.
Marie: That is the official record.
John Festa: But on the official record you can't be specific. Things are not reported in the minutes. [Blogger: Now, there's a tantalizing comment!]
Marie: You can add to the minutes.
John Festa: I think the community deserves better from us. [Blogger: I agree. I just don't think that John Festa and I can agree on what "better" might mean.]
Jason: Bring some proposals.
Marie: We don't have enough money to pay for what we've got.
John Festa: What does that mean? Does it mean not get the word out?
Marie: You wanted to have a website for that purpose--make sure the website covers it. Isn't that the purpose of it?
John Festa: It is. So improve the website.
Jason. Bring something back.
John Festa: I want to make sure that people are informed. I do (would?) want to be informed, and I can't piece that together from what is on our website. I have no clue.
Jason: We have a direct line to Brent Simon. If you want things updated, update them.
[Blogger: A couple of things: Someone who spoke with me afterwards thought that the two junior trustees had thrown our webmaster under the bus. I have my doubts about that. The state of affairs in the township makes it difficult to believe that anything is what it seems. I have been in too many meetings that were clearly just stagecraft.
Second, Brent is not responsible for what is on the website. He simply puts on what he is told to put on. Or that is all he should do. If John Festa is not satisfied with our website, who took the lead to work on it with Brent? It wasn't Vic.]
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Mantua Twp. Trustees 2-6-14, Zoning Actions, Cemetery, Vets.
[Blogger Foreword: This post got added to within minutes of my posting it the first time. Anyone who read it while it was still "smoking" from the first "Publish" should check at the end for what got added. It's fairly routine.]
Zoning Inspector's Report:
John Dickey: Income, $105 for one permit.
No verbal violation notices.
Violations were sent to Chris Meduri to send violation notices to three owners.
The property on S.R. 82 [Blogger: just east of Mantua Corners, I believe] is in court. Fines will begin on March 1.
There are some zoning questions about cell phone towers in the area which are being upgraded.
Various calls and zoning [information] requests, including 17-18 calls and questions from realtors.
I/We will begin compiling photographic records as soon as the memory discs are available for the camera.
Continuing to clean up the files. They are still a mess. Trying to purge duplications. The past zoning inspector kept all of the records. [Blogger: I believe that John Dickey also said something about only needing to keep records for two years. My impression was that records older than two years were on the purge list, but I am not sure about that. I have been told that those records are important because sometimes years later an issue or appeal comes up, and the records must be researched to be sure that decisions will be correct.]
Note: John Dickey spoke in sentences; to keep up, I took some notes in fragments where all that was necessary was to get the topics.
John Festa: When the fees begin to accrue, what is the fine?
John Dickey: $100 per day for a violation, and each day is a new violation.
John Festa: What happens if the fine is more than the property is worth? Where do we end up?
John Dickey: Owning a piece of property that ain't worth it. [Blogger: I think that John's use of "ain't" was deliberate, not an error. His verbal skills are pretty good.]
John Dickey, continuing: They want to clean it up and get the guy out who is there. By May 1 if it is all clean, the fines would be erased. I have not gotten a final copy from Chris Meduri.
Jason: The fine goes to the county.
Vic: The main objective is to have the owner come into compliance.
[Note: I talked with Terri Vechery about this. Taking someone to court, or even sending the kind of letters that the law requires, costs money. The township gets nothing back, but spends money. Terri said that this was one of the reasons John Vechery (the previous zoning inspector, if you are brand new here) was very careful and not too hasty about issuing citations and then taking people to court.
Personally, from talking with John Vechery about some of these things, I know that there was a level of humaneness in how he performed his job that seems absent now. The majority view now of the Zoning Inspector's job seems to be that the ZI is to be an enforcer, and moving deliberately is seen as too slow. The last half of that sentence is based on the blog post of a meeting late last year attended by Chris Meduri, when John Festa was disgruntled about how long it took and Chris responded that people had to be accorded due process.]
John Festa: I want to take a look at the printer on the computer there [the zoning office]. You are having difficulties with the printer?
John Dickey: There are some difficulties.
Question: Who shares the computer?
Answer: BZA.
Jason: Under Old Business, the FAQ part of the website. Jason passed out a mockup for the website. Then he complimented John Dickey for working with Brent Simon so that it looks nice.
Marie asked a question about the website and reading her e-mail.
Jason: The county had requested updated information from everyone. They want the form filled out completely new. I left off the Fiscal Officer e-mail but it got put back on.
Other reports: Zoning Commission, no report.
BZA, Betsy Wolfe: The BZA will hold an organizational meeting on February 17 at 7 p.m. in the Township Hall.
Cemetery, Jim Aldrich: Cemetery fees, $1545 for burials and $700 for grave sales.
Road Department: Brian Tayerle was not present. Jason congratulated Brian on being promoted from Acting Road Supervisor to Road Supervisor, a decision made following employee evaluations at the special meeting earlier in the week. Jason said that he had asked Brian to show them that he can be the supervisor, and Jason felt he had done so.
Vic: We got a couple of loads of salt this week. We are approaching our limit. It does not look as if we can purchase more than our allotted amount. Everyone is running out. The Portage County Engineer is still waiting for salt from the summer. No one knows why. [This issue concerns the whole northeastern part of the state, as anyone is aware from the evening news.]
Veterans' Memorial, Frank Horack, chairman of the Veterans' Memorial Association. At our last meeting we gave final approval on the plaque design. We will begin laying them out and etching them.
We are working on the dedication. Matt Parsons is in charge of that. Frank gave Matt's contact number for anyone interested in helping out. Frank: You can go through me, but it is better to talk to him. We are just waiting for the weather now. That is all unless you have questions.
John Festa: Did you discuss a list of people for the trustees to contact for the dedication?
Frank: Go through Matt Parsons.
John Festa: It is still going to be Memorial Day? Frank confirmed that it is.
New Business, Trustee Reports, Announcements
Jason: The sign grant application, through ODOT. $50,000 is available for the top 100 townships according to the crash statistics. We are #100 in the state. But $50,000 total is available. There is also additional money from other sources. The idea is that replacing needed signs will lower the crash statistics. We were able to include Mantua Village.
Jason read a letter informing him that the full request had been approved. This will go into effect after July 7.
The total grant that we applied for, combined with the Village, it came to $6,666.86. A little over half will go to the village. This includes stop and turn signs and posts. Jason gave some explanation about how things are supposed to work for this program.
Marie asked about how all of this is to be handled for our books.
Jason: We don't touch any money.
Marie asked for a motion, just in case we need it, increasing the budget by the amount mentioned.
Vic: You can't use the whole amount for us. The last time something like this was done, we just took delivery of them.
Jason asked a question about any discussion with Brian Savage, our insurance agent, who was supposed to be part of the special meeting earlier in the week but cancelled. Jason thought it would be good to meet with him before the next regular meeting, which is February 20. A time of 7 p.m. for that was set.
There was some discussion about how to advertise and post it.
Jason mentioned employee reviews and asked about trustees' availability. The end of next week is the township association meeting in Columbus. Jason is getting anxious about time closing in and wanted a date after the next meeting. He asked Jim Aldrich and John Dickey about convenient dates, which were then set for January 24.
Marie asked about changing a meeting date to March 7. She will be out of town on the regular meeting date. She proposed moving it from March 6 to March 7 and beginning at 6:30 at the township hall.
.
Zoning Inspector's Report:
John Dickey: Income, $105 for one permit.
No verbal violation notices.
Violations were sent to Chris Meduri to send violation notices to three owners.
The property on S.R. 82 [Blogger: just east of Mantua Corners, I believe] is in court. Fines will begin on March 1.
There are some zoning questions about cell phone towers in the area which are being upgraded.
Various calls and zoning [information] requests, including 17-18 calls and questions from realtors.
I/We will begin compiling photographic records as soon as the memory discs are available for the camera.
Continuing to clean up the files. They are still a mess. Trying to purge duplications. The past zoning inspector kept all of the records. [Blogger: I believe that John Dickey also said something about only needing to keep records for two years. My impression was that records older than two years were on the purge list, but I am not sure about that. I have been told that those records are important because sometimes years later an issue or appeal comes up, and the records must be researched to be sure that decisions will be correct.]
Note: John Dickey spoke in sentences; to keep up, I took some notes in fragments where all that was necessary was to get the topics.
John Festa: When the fees begin to accrue, what is the fine?
John Dickey: $100 per day for a violation, and each day is a new violation.
John Festa: What happens if the fine is more than the property is worth? Where do we end up?
John Dickey: Owning a piece of property that ain't worth it. [Blogger: I think that John's use of "ain't" was deliberate, not an error. His verbal skills are pretty good.]
John Dickey, continuing: They want to clean it up and get the guy out who is there. By May 1 if it is all clean, the fines would be erased. I have not gotten a final copy from Chris Meduri.
Jason: The fine goes to the county.
Vic: The main objective is to have the owner come into compliance.
[Note: I talked with Terri Vechery about this. Taking someone to court, or even sending the kind of letters that the law requires, costs money. The township gets nothing back, but spends money. Terri said that this was one of the reasons John Vechery (the previous zoning inspector, if you are brand new here) was very careful and not too hasty about issuing citations and then taking people to court.
Personally, from talking with John Vechery about some of these things, I know that there was a level of humaneness in how he performed his job that seems absent now. The majority view now of the Zoning Inspector's job seems to be that the ZI is to be an enforcer, and moving deliberately is seen as too slow. The last half of that sentence is based on the blog post of a meeting late last year attended by Chris Meduri, when John Festa was disgruntled about how long it took and Chris responded that people had to be accorded due process.]
John Festa: I want to take a look at the printer on the computer there [the zoning office]. You are having difficulties with the printer?
John Dickey: There are some difficulties.
Question: Who shares the computer?
Answer: BZA.
Jason: Under Old Business, the FAQ part of the website. Jason passed out a mockup for the website. Then he complimented John Dickey for working with Brent Simon so that it looks nice.
Marie asked a question about the website and reading her e-mail.
Jason: The county had requested updated information from everyone. They want the form filled out completely new. I left off the Fiscal Officer e-mail but it got put back on.
Other reports: Zoning Commission, no report.
BZA, Betsy Wolfe: The BZA will hold an organizational meeting on February 17 at 7 p.m. in the Township Hall.
Cemetery, Jim Aldrich: Cemetery fees, $1545 for burials and $700 for grave sales.
Road Department: Brian Tayerle was not present. Jason congratulated Brian on being promoted from Acting Road Supervisor to Road Supervisor, a decision made following employee evaluations at the special meeting earlier in the week. Jason said that he had asked Brian to show them that he can be the supervisor, and Jason felt he had done so.
Vic: We got a couple of loads of salt this week. We are approaching our limit. It does not look as if we can purchase more than our allotted amount. Everyone is running out. The Portage County Engineer is still waiting for salt from the summer. No one knows why. [This issue concerns the whole northeastern part of the state, as anyone is aware from the evening news.]
Veterans' Memorial, Frank Horack, chairman of the Veterans' Memorial Association. At our last meeting we gave final approval on the plaque design. We will begin laying them out and etching them.
We are working on the dedication. Matt Parsons is in charge of that. Frank gave Matt's contact number for anyone interested in helping out. Frank: You can go through me, but it is better to talk to him. We are just waiting for the weather now. That is all unless you have questions.
John Festa: Did you discuss a list of people for the trustees to contact for the dedication?
Frank: Go through Matt Parsons.
John Festa: It is still going to be Memorial Day? Frank confirmed that it is.
New Business, Trustee Reports, Announcements
Jason: The sign grant application, through ODOT. $50,000 is available for the top 100 townships according to the crash statistics. We are #100 in the state. But $50,000 total is available. There is also additional money from other sources. The idea is that replacing needed signs will lower the crash statistics. We were able to include Mantua Village.
Jason read a letter informing him that the full request had been approved. This will go into effect after July 7.
The total grant that we applied for, combined with the Village, it came to $6,666.86. A little over half will go to the village. This includes stop and turn signs and posts. Jason gave some explanation about how things are supposed to work for this program.
Marie asked about how all of this is to be handled for our books.
Jason: We don't touch any money.
Marie asked for a motion, just in case we need it, increasing the budget by the amount mentioned.
Vic: You can't use the whole amount for us. The last time something like this was done, we just took delivery of them.
Jason asked a question about any discussion with Brian Savage, our insurance agent, who was supposed to be part of the special meeting earlier in the week but cancelled. Jason thought it would be good to meet with him before the next regular meeting, which is February 20. A time of 7 p.m. for that was set.
There was some discussion about how to advertise and post it.
Jason mentioned employee reviews and asked about trustees' availability. The end of next week is the township association meeting in Columbus. Jason is getting anxious about time closing in and wanted a date after the next meeting. He asked Jim Aldrich and John Dickey about convenient dates, which were then set for January 24.
Marie asked about changing a meeting date to March 7. She will be out of town on the regular meeting date. She proposed moving it from March 6 to March 7 and beginning at 6:30 at the township hall.
.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Mantua Twp. Trustees 2-6-14, No Joy
The minutes of the All Boards and post executive session for employee review were considered, corrected as necessary, and accepted.
The Fiscal Officer's report included two letters regarding properties that are under dispute regarding zoning on Herman and Mennonite roads.
NOPEC: There may still be some grant money out there. [This is for energy saving. The trustees made good use of a previous such grant to replace windows in the township hall and in the school building.]
There was considerable discussion about the budget. Your blogger's advice to you is to get the official information about that from the minutes when they are posted on the Township website. That will mean waiting until after the next meeting, but the information will be official at that point. I will include here what I caught, but it is fragmentary.
Blogger: There was a list of temporary appropriations, which is how budgeting is handled at the beginning of the year. Check the minutes when they are posted.
Current cash balance is $529,197.19.
The budget lists each fund. Marie made one update. There are two school payments which brought the General Fund to a probable ending balance of $78,215.96 as carryover.
Marie: I like to have more money than that in there. We should put in a couple thousand for the audit that is coming up. I am expecting the audit prices to be expensive. I added $600 for Betsy Wolfe for the zoning [filing she is doing.] More will probably be needed for John Dickey.
Jason mentioned Terry Nielsen, BZA member [or alternate; blogger is not sure of that], who offered to help as a volunteer on the zoning filing.
Marie: No reallocation is possible yet. We spent every dime we had last year on salaries. Because there was an increase, we will have to increase Road and Bridge to cover salaries and benefits.
I also did not have anything on the payment for the mini excavator, which will be $6200 twice a year.
Jason: Can we take one road crew salary from Road and Bridge and not all out of Gas Tax?
Marie: We can try that. That will pretty much use up the money in the Road and Bridge fund. We will have to put in $15,000 extra for ____. [Blogger: Missed it. That might be for the mini excavator, but I am not sure.]
Marie, continuing: You each have a copy of the budget from July. We don't have a lot in Operating Supplies. In fact, we don't have anything in that fund, which is road material. We will need to budget for more in operating supplies from the road levy. $41,200 from the road levy for operating suppliles.
Jason: What comes out [of that]?
Marie: Asphalt and salt.
Jason: I don't anticipate our using much for signs because of the sign grant.
Marie: The road levy brings in $167,800. We have $170,000 [plus or minus] budgeted.
License tax is been being held aside for Issue 2 money. Perhaps some of that can be used for contractors this year.
Jason: Do we need to move this money now, or wait until the need arises?
Marie: We have to have the permanent budget in place by April 1. If we do not put a permanent appropriation in place, then the temporary budget stands for the year. [Note: The temporary budget/appropriation is usually half of the amount available for the year.]
Marie, continuing: We can take $20,000 from Issue 2 and move it into ____.[Missed this. Marie speaks softly and quickly.]
Marie: Back to the General Fund. We are budgeted right now for $256,581. We need to increase the lease [I do not know what this is--the school, or the mini excavator] and the audit by $2,000. We also need to up the original budget.
Jason: Do you want to talk about open purchase orders to maybe release some dollars?
Marie: We can.
Jason: I asked Marie for a list of open purchase orders. The first is for $400 for steel for the parking lot.
Vic explained what it was for and said it could be closed out.
Next: Jason: I am not sure whether this has been used: Solon Granite and Memorial Works.
Vic: They still have that and it is for a very old monument. It is for $358.00. Vic will follow up.
Jason: $1200 for Regional Planning.
Marie: That is the study for the school.
Jason: We have already paid Regional Planning.
Marie: It is my understanding that it was going to come to that much over our allowed hours. Do you want to wait until the next meeting to do something on the budget?
Jason: I don't think it will get any worse or better. What are your other concerns? Do we need to move any other money to make things work?
Marie: When I budget these things, I budget pretty tight.
Jason: Where do you want to take that from?
Marie: There is no other place to take it from.
We are in tandem with Reminderville for the audit. They have never done this before. This should have been the year for the state to audit us. When we went from the state to an independent auditing us, our costs doubled.
Marie explained how she has worked to balance things and even out the expenses. Since we have a 22-year history of good books, we should qualify for a Good Practices status and a lower cost. But we are paired with someone without such a good history.
John Festa: We should know what we should budget.
Marie: The bids are due on February 15. By the next meeting we should have an idea. The state auditor's office will release the cost to us but not the bids. We have to be prepared for whatever they throw at us.
Jason: I think we should just pass it this evening.
John Festa: I just want us to have all our bases covered. It seems to be pretty much cut and dried now.
Marie: For a reallocation about the salaries, we can take the lowest paid one and start doing it from the Road and Bridge fund.
Jason: Made a motion to accept the budget as presented and discussed for 2014 for Mantua Township.
Marie: This increases the Road and Bridge by $15,000 for the lease. Road and Bridge will change by the lease and one salary. For the equipment you bought.
John Festa seconded; unanimous.
Blogger: This is a reasonable place to stop. Zoning and Cemetery reports are next, and I would like not to bury them at the end of a section.
The Fiscal Officer's report included two letters regarding properties that are under dispute regarding zoning on Herman and Mennonite roads.
NOPEC: There may still be some grant money out there. [This is for energy saving. The trustees made good use of a previous such grant to replace windows in the township hall and in the school building.]
There was considerable discussion about the budget. Your blogger's advice to you is to get the official information about that from the minutes when they are posted on the Township website. That will mean waiting until after the next meeting, but the information will be official at that point. I will include here what I caught, but it is fragmentary.
Blogger: There was a list of temporary appropriations, which is how budgeting is handled at the beginning of the year. Check the minutes when they are posted.
Current cash balance is $529,197.19.
The budget lists each fund. Marie made one update. There are two school payments which brought the General Fund to a probable ending balance of $78,215.96 as carryover.
Marie: I like to have more money than that in there. We should put in a couple thousand for the audit that is coming up. I am expecting the audit prices to be expensive. I added $600 for Betsy Wolfe for the zoning [filing she is doing.] More will probably be needed for John Dickey.
Jason mentioned Terry Nielsen, BZA member [or alternate; blogger is not sure of that], who offered to help as a volunteer on the zoning filing.
Marie: No reallocation is possible yet. We spent every dime we had last year on salaries. Because there was an increase, we will have to increase Road and Bridge to cover salaries and benefits.
I also did not have anything on the payment for the mini excavator, which will be $6200 twice a year.
Jason: Can we take one road crew salary from Road and Bridge and not all out of Gas Tax?
Marie: We can try that. That will pretty much use up the money in the Road and Bridge fund. We will have to put in $15,000 extra for ____. [Blogger: Missed it. That might be for the mini excavator, but I am not sure.]
Marie, continuing: You each have a copy of the budget from July. We don't have a lot in Operating Supplies. In fact, we don't have anything in that fund, which is road material. We will need to budget for more in operating supplies from the road levy. $41,200 from the road levy for operating suppliles.
Jason: What comes out [of that]?
Marie: Asphalt and salt.
Jason: I don't anticipate our using much for signs because of the sign grant.
Marie: The road levy brings in $167,800. We have $170,000 [plus or minus] budgeted.
License tax is been being held aside for Issue 2 money. Perhaps some of that can be used for contractors this year.
Jason: Do we need to move this money now, or wait until the need arises?
Marie: We have to have the permanent budget in place by April 1. If we do not put a permanent appropriation in place, then the temporary budget stands for the year. [Note: The temporary budget/appropriation is usually half of the amount available for the year.]
Marie, continuing: We can take $20,000 from Issue 2 and move it into ____.[Missed this. Marie speaks softly and quickly.]
Marie: Back to the General Fund. We are budgeted right now for $256,581. We need to increase the lease [I do not know what this is--the school, or the mini excavator] and the audit by $2,000. We also need to up the original budget.
Jason: Do you want to talk about open purchase orders to maybe release some dollars?
Marie: We can.
Jason: I asked Marie for a list of open purchase orders. The first is for $400 for steel for the parking lot.
Vic explained what it was for and said it could be closed out.
Next: Jason: I am not sure whether this has been used: Solon Granite and Memorial Works.
Vic: They still have that and it is for a very old monument. It is for $358.00. Vic will follow up.
Jason: $1200 for Regional Planning.
Marie: That is the study for the school.
Jason: We have already paid Regional Planning.
Marie: It is my understanding that it was going to come to that much over our allowed hours. Do you want to wait until the next meeting to do something on the budget?
Jason: I don't think it will get any worse or better. What are your other concerns? Do we need to move any other money to make things work?
Marie: When I budget these things, I budget pretty tight.
Jason: Where do you want to take that from?
Marie: There is no other place to take it from.
We are in tandem with Reminderville for the audit. They have never done this before. This should have been the year for the state to audit us. When we went from the state to an independent auditing us, our costs doubled.
Marie explained how she has worked to balance things and even out the expenses. Since we have a 22-year history of good books, we should qualify for a Good Practices status and a lower cost. But we are paired with someone without such a good history.
John Festa: We should know what we should budget.
Marie: The bids are due on February 15. By the next meeting we should have an idea. The state auditor's office will release the cost to us but not the bids. We have to be prepared for whatever they throw at us.
Jason: I think we should just pass it this evening.
John Festa: I just want us to have all our bases covered. It seems to be pretty much cut and dried now.
Marie: For a reallocation about the salaries, we can take the lowest paid one and start doing it from the Road and Bridge fund.
Jason: Made a motion to accept the budget as presented and discussed for 2014 for Mantua Township.
Marie: This increases the Road and Bridge by $15,000 for the lease. Road and Bridge will change by the lease and one salary. For the equipment you bought.
John Festa seconded; unanimous.
Blogger: This is a reasonable place to stop. Zoning and Cemetery reports are next, and I would like not to bury them at the end of a section.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Todd Peetz re School, last public comments
Blogger: These last remarks are mostly mine, since I have to wait to get a recording of the meetings to be able to post anything I've said. They are just going to be set down here as a separate set, rather than inserted into a post that has been made and read by a fair number of people.
Pollard: About a year ago, I talked with you about what constitutes a center of a community. Not a community center, but a center of a place, in contrast to Streetsboro. What does a community need to have a heart? What is involved in that?
Todd: Hiram--you don't see that. You have the college, but they are missing a heart. Garrettsville has a center of the community. It is wehere the hub of the activity is. I think this can be that someday. It is where the activity is.
CP: Does population have a bearing on that?
Todd: If population is more centrally located, yes. But in many places offices and government buildings are all that is at the cente.r
Subsequently, Todd mentioned volunteerism.
CP: Once the school building is paid off, there is $30,000 a year that has been going to payments that will be available. There are grants available now that the building is on the National Register of Historic Places. I have heard I think accurately that 501 c 3 organizations can provide part of the matching funds for such grants. That is not possible here yet, but it is in the offing. We are entering the time that can begin accomplishing this, sssuming that we do not get pushed into thinking that we have to have a Cadillac plan. We are not Aurora or Gates Mills or Chagrin Falls. We are Mantua township, more rural than suburban. I think there is value in that no-nonsense attitude that goes with our history.
Todd noted something about using the $30,000 for maintenance.
CP: Not just for maintenance. I think that some of it can go for maintenance and utilities, but I think we can improve the building and start working towards providing the things it needs and not the things it would take to bring it up to code for a school building. Those figures are jaw dropping--beyond belief.
Later, after remarks by Roger Hurd and Matt Parsons:
CP: One of the things that nobody has said much about is what it would cost to tear it down and start over. I recently talked with someone who is very familiar with Akron. He said that Akron is tearing down the 1906 buildings, which were built to stand for 500 years, and is keeping the 1928 buildings, which are not constructed the same way. With modern commercial construction, by the time the building is paid off, it needs to be replaced, so you are always paying for a new building. [Translation: You are always paying taxes to put up a building that will quickly become obsolete. To me, that, not renovating this building, is a waste of the taxpayers' money.]
Todd: You would lose the heritage.
[Blogger: Remember that Jason gets a lot of mileage out of the 200 years plus that his family has owned the farm on Pioneer Trail. Personally, I think he should give the same kind of respect and reverence to the school and to us. Why is his family farm so special, but the school is just an old building?]
Later:
CP: For something complex, it seems as if a vote of yes/no, live/die does not deal with--I hate to use the word--nuances. This is not a simple issue and putting it before the voters as yes/no, especially if it is written so it would fail--how did other places do it? Did they have task forces?
Todd talked a little about resources and that the Restoration Society could be a key to how things can happen. He said, "I think that is an opportunity." Keeping the building would be realistic.
In conclusion: This post pretty much completes what was said in public comment that was relevant to the issue at hand.
Pollard: About a year ago, I talked with you about what constitutes a center of a community. Not a community center, but a center of a place, in contrast to Streetsboro. What does a community need to have a heart? What is involved in that?
Todd: Hiram--you don't see that. You have the college, but they are missing a heart. Garrettsville has a center of the community. It is wehere the hub of the activity is. I think this can be that someday. It is where the activity is.
CP: Does population have a bearing on that?
Todd: If population is more centrally located, yes. But in many places offices and government buildings are all that is at the cente.r
Subsequently, Todd mentioned volunteerism.
CP: Once the school building is paid off, there is $30,000 a year that has been going to payments that will be available. There are grants available now that the building is on the National Register of Historic Places. I have heard I think accurately that 501 c 3 organizations can provide part of the matching funds for such grants. That is not possible here yet, but it is in the offing. We are entering the time that can begin accomplishing this, sssuming that we do not get pushed into thinking that we have to have a Cadillac plan. We are not Aurora or Gates Mills or Chagrin Falls. We are Mantua township, more rural than suburban. I think there is value in that no-nonsense attitude that goes with our history.
Todd noted something about using the $30,000 for maintenance.
CP: Not just for maintenance. I think that some of it can go for maintenance and utilities, but I think we can improve the building and start working towards providing the things it needs and not the things it would take to bring it up to code for a school building. Those figures are jaw dropping--beyond belief.
Later, after remarks by Roger Hurd and Matt Parsons:
CP: One of the things that nobody has said much about is what it would cost to tear it down and start over. I recently talked with someone who is very familiar with Akron. He said that Akron is tearing down the 1906 buildings, which were built to stand for 500 years, and is keeping the 1928 buildings, which are not constructed the same way. With modern commercial construction, by the time the building is paid off, it needs to be replaced, so you are always paying for a new building. [Translation: You are always paying taxes to put up a building that will quickly become obsolete. To me, that, not renovating this building, is a waste of the taxpayers' money.]
Todd: You would lose the heritage.
[Blogger: Remember that Jason gets a lot of mileage out of the 200 years plus that his family has owned the farm on Pioneer Trail. Personally, I think he should give the same kind of respect and reverence to the school and to us. Why is his family farm so special, but the school is just an old building?]
Later:
CP: For something complex, it seems as if a vote of yes/no, live/die does not deal with--I hate to use the word--nuances. This is not a simple issue and putting it before the voters as yes/no, especially if it is written so it would fail--how did other places do it? Did they have task forces?
Todd talked a little about resources and that the Restoration Society could be a key to how things can happen. He said, "I think that is an opportunity." Keeping the building would be realistic.
In conclusion: This post pretty much completes what was said in public comment that was relevant to the issue at hand.
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