Trustees 9-18-14: Zoning: Very Intense

[Blogger Foreword:  The blog continues, but for reasonably routine meetings, the posts are going to continue to be concise. This post, however, returns to the near-transcript format, and I believe you will see why as you read it.

[Furthermore, this post is going straight through from beginning to end, with markers where I have stopped and where a reader might want to.  For this meeting, I wanted the continuity of a straight-through account.]  

OK.  Here we go.  [This part of the post was made on 9-28-14]

Club and committee reports included that the Garden Club had met and was going to work in the bullpen on Saturday, September 27.  [They did; I showed up for a little over an hour and helped trim some things, and the members planted mums and maybe some other things.]

The Mantua  Restoration Society, Inc.:  Mark Hall announced that members would be at the Derthick's Corn  Maze serving home cooked food as part of the organization's fund raising.   The maze is open every weekend from now until the end of October.

Chamber of Commerce:  John Festa announced that Jake's has been sold to a member of the Miller family (Garrettsville) and that the Crestwood School System lost 70 students in enrollment from last year.

Chip and seal is done and the check would be signed at this meeting.

Vic Grimm reported on the school use committees, and a date was identified.  [That has already been posted.]

Vic has taken pictures for the website.  He also announced that two residents were in attendance.

Mark Kramer, S.R. 82, had a petition with 20 signatures about non-local truckers using Center Road and asking for a No Engine Brake sign on Center Road.  He said that the whole thing had actually been signed 3 years ago, but the truckers don't observe it.  [Apparently the detour because of the bridge work south of Mantua has increased traffic and decreased obeying the signs.]

Jason said they would look into it and asked Marie Stehli to make copies.

Vic:  The other person is present about zoning.  A number of letters have been sent out.

The resident about zoning was John L. Vechery, who lives in Aurora Meadows. [Blogger:  FYI, JLV is not related to Terri.  He is the son of--I believe--a cousin of the late John Vechery who was zoning inspector for the township for about 30 years.]

JLV:  I talked with all 3 of you and want to know where you are at with this right now.

Vic:  John, you were at the [zoning] meeting [last Thursday] and got the clarification.  I don't think we can put a lot of that stuff on the letter because it is not in the zoning book.  I was at the zoning meeting and it was pretty much unanimous about what should be in it.

 [Note:  Although tonight's meeting focused on zoning concerns--serious ones--the zoning inspector, John Dickey, was not present. Never mind that "his" night is the first meeting of the month.]

Vic, continuing:  John Dickey said that it was not a violation letter because it was not certified mail.  But the letter says that you are hereby notified that your property is in violation.  There is a 15-day window and that is not in the zoning book.
John Dickey is asking for proof of insurance and although is not in the zoning book, John Dickey said he could ask for anything he wants.  None of that is in the zoning book.  We were told it was a warning letter.

Jason:  I have gone to JLV's residence and talked with John Dickey today.  The form letter John Dickey sent out--Chris Meduri saw that letter and I talked with John Dickey specifically.  [According to] Chris Meduri, we can not enforce getting copies of the registration and title but saw nothing else wrong with it.  I agree that we should make some corrections.  I think it is ambiguous and we are leading residents to believe that it is a violation letter when it is not.  Jason showed the letter, [but apparently Marie never got a copy of it, in spite of open records law.]  Blogger's brackets. 

Jason, continuing:  There were quite a few trailers and vehicles and offenders.  John Dickey discovered that nothing was helping.  [Blogger:  Context, here--people have apparently been ignoring requests, possibly simply verbal ones, to take care of things that John Dickey considers violations.]

Continuing:  He drafted this letter and it is a little harsh and we need to clear/clean up [Blogger:  not sure which word was actually used; the two words are written identically in the system I use] and change some verbiage and what we are requiring and remove the day limitation.

 John Dickey can not knock on everyone's door [Blogger:  But I suspect the late John Vechery managed to do that]--he works during the day and if you are going to warn someone you need another way besides meeting them person to person.  Also, with cell phones not everyone is listed in the phone book.
 [Blogger:  But most of them are listed on the voter records kept by the Board of Elections, and those can be printed out either alphabetically or by street/road.  It isn't perfect, but it's a lot.]  

Jason, continuing:  I think there is some opportunity to clear this up.

Vic:  One of the biggest things was that people did not like getting it in the mail and would prefer being talked to one to one.  The 15-day window--this letter [the one in Vic's hand] was given to me on the 13th day.  Two of them said that the book says that not more than one unlicensed vehicle [is permitted] and were told that "not more than one" means none.
It should have been approved by the trustees before it went out.  A lot of this could have been prevented.  What are you asking us for, John [Vechery]?

JLV:  Is he going to stick to his guns?

Vic:  He was at the [Zoning Commission] meeting.

JLV:  He was very arrogant. 

Jason:  We can get an opinion from the prosecuting attorney  [Chris Meduri] about what the violations are.

JLV:  If he could knock on the door, he could hang a letter on the door.

John Festa:  I made it clear with John Dickey from the beginning that we are all community here and residents and he should go introduce himself.  [Blogger:  This sounds really good.  Watch over time to see if this talk gets walked.]
JF continuing:  I think he has been doing that ever since.  John Dickey is going to make mistakes and it is up to the bosses to make some changes.  I am going to stick behind John Dickey to enforce the laws. 

JLV:  There is a difference between that and witch hunting.  

 [Blogger:  And the issue with the first replacement for John Vechery as zoning inspector is that she--Tierney Bryant--was not handing out violation notices.  She insisted that, by the book, things that bothered John Festa and Jason were not violations.  They cut her NO slack at all, and she resigned after 3 months.  Here we are, a year on with John Dickey, and he is still being excused as new on the job.  Right.]

Jason:  I talked with John Dickey after I talked with you.  Did he come to see you?

JLV:  We spoke.

John Festa:  I want to make sure everyone stays cordial.  John Dickey does do a good job.  His style/stuff[?] may be a little strong, but he gives a lot and works a lot of hours.

JLV:  That is his job.  In certain situations he does not need to.  He has to hunt out every car that may have sat for 30 days without a license plate and he has time to do that. 

John Festa:  People are asking about houses that are falling down and why are we talking about cars.

JLV:  Do we have to hunt down every last car?  We live in a township and not in a city.  We do not need to do this.

John Festa:  When you read the zoning book and read his job description . . . .

JLV:  If a law officer stops you for speeding, is he going to give you a ticket for one mile over?

Jason:  We live in a society where nothing is perfect and the reality is that not everything is black and white.  The book is relatively new and the zoning inspector is new.  [He's been on the job for a year.  New?  The zoning book was worked on extensively for quite a while and adopted in December 2009.] 

 The BZA had some issues interpreting the book.  They worked with Lynn Harvey and Roger Hurd about interpreting the book.  [Yes, and they listened to Lynn and Roger--the people with the knowledge.]  I think you have valid concerns and we have some opportunities to improve the letter you received.  I think we will work on those and ask what other communities are doing. Some people don't even know there is a zoning book.  [Eh?  This is relevant how?]  We try to educate them.

It is a nightmare to write violations and go to court.  We have a couple right now that John Dickey did not initiate but stepped into the middle of.  [Blogger:  Eventually this meeting became an exercise in throwing everyone available under the bus.  I think this is the first twitch in that direction.]

We would rather work with residents.  If there are folks that have issues with the book, Lynn Harvey is here and is chairperson of the Zoning Commission or [talk] to the trustees.  If you have personal issues with anyone who represents the township, please send those to the trustees.  [Um--isn't that exactly why JLV is at this meeting?]
I hear a lot of hearsay and don't know where it started.  If I got a letter describing what happened, that would help.

JLV:  So coming here is almost the same as doing a letter, isn't it?  [Everybody knows that being required to write a letter inserts a level of difficulty or apprehension about how to do it that is usually enough to quell the impulse to speak up.]

Jason agreed.  We don't want to slap people with violations--it is a township and not a city.  [Do you think JLV remembered that he had said that first?]  See what other townships are doing.

Vic:  Chris Meduri recommended that I ask the the Zoning Commission what the intent was.  We went through this on that agricultural permit.  John Dickey had things on the letter that were not in the zoning book.  He had a cut and paste violation.  That is not what we want.  There is due process to follow the book--15 days is not enough.

JLV: Maybe before he does this again he could run it past all three of you so you can tell him the direction he should take.

  Jason:  Agreed that there were probably some things that could be changed.

JLV:  Until he learns, he should check with you.

Jason:  It is his job to interpret the code and that is why we hired him.  I think you have some valid points.
[OK, dear reader:  Pay attention to substance as compared to merely soothing, conciliatory noises.]

Vic:  That is why I went to the Zoning Commission, and they should know what the intent is.
Vic, to Lynn Harvey:  Do you have something to add?

Lynn Harvey:  Yes.  This is the second example of letters going out having all kinds of things on it that are not in the book.  We talked about it after the agricultural letter and told him you can not put things in that are not in the book.  John Dickey said that he had talked to Chris Meduri and he said it was fine,  but Chris had not said that.  You can not customize what is in the zoning book.

Continuing:  To anyone who received that letter, it is a violation letter.  To say it is not a violation because it was not certified is bogus.  That will be done to someone who will sue us, and we will be in trouble.

Jason:  This is not a bash John session.  [At that point, I think I sputtered, and Jason told me that was enough.]

Lynn:  I have worked with him and told him you can not put things in letters that are not in the book.  It should have been enough to tell John Dickey once.

Jason:  That is in the past and we have to move forward.  Most of this is on the website and so we need to address things on a case by case basis.

Lynn:  We   are trying to head off major problems so this does not happen again.

Blogger:  I am stopping here to get the exact wording of what came next.  Just above, Jason said that this was not a bash John session.  At this point, my notes say, "Jason then bashed Terri Vechery."

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[Resuming on Monday, September 29]

This is what Jason said that I summed up as bashing Terri:

Jason:  When John Dickey goes to a zoning commission meeting and is met by
                         unprofessionalism
                          uncouthness
                          belittling
                          and brashness
that is uncalled for by Mrs. Terri Vechery there.

[Blogger:  OK, look at that list and then look at what Lynn Harvey said.  She did not call John any names or label his behavior.  She concentrated on what he was doing and how, and she voiced concern for the township.  Repeatedly.  She did say that once should be enough to be told something was not right.  Is that bashing?
[Actually, that list gave Jason a chance to hide behind poor, abused John Dickey (sarcasm, in case you're not paying attention) to get back at Terri for taking him to task during his first term when he got full of himself.  I don't remember all of her comments, but one of them was, "Jason, you're not old enough to . . . ."  whatever it was.  Jason doesn't like being told he isn't wonderful, despite his protests that he isn't doing this job for praise.   As Shakespeare said, "Methinks the lady doth protest too much."]

Jason:  We got a call from the head of the BZA saying they could not work with the book.  We have to work together.  [There was more along that line, I believe, and maybe something about the state we would be in if we don't work together.  News flash, Jason:  that's exactly where we are, because this meeting is a clear example of how the trustees--two of them--are taking sides and NOT working together with everyone, but only their chosen few.]

Lynn:  We have worked together for a year--14 months.  We have worked with John Dickey the whole time.

Jason:  Our previous zoning inspector was an inspector for many years and had much knowledge.  Our book now is larger and more complex.  The learning curve is not small.  It is very large.  We can't expect anyone to learn it all.  [Blogger:  The comment about the BZA?  My understanding of the zoning appeals hearing that went badly for the board (not against them, but just confusingly) is that the paperwork submitted by the zoning inspector (John Dickey, in case you lost track) was either not correct or not complete.]

Lynn:  Since when does the language "not  more than one" mean zero?

JLV:  Especially when more than one person brought it up to him and he blew it off.

Jason:  This is the first I have heard of it.  Unless the trustees are actually informed about what is going on, we can't do anything about it.

JLV left a few minutes after the above exchange.

[Blogger:  My notes here are only three words:  SPIN SPIN SPIN.]

Vic:   Announced the flu clinic scheduled for October 8 from 4-6p.m. in the Civic Center.  Prices are probably higher than last year.

Township Hall updates were next, followed by various other updates.  I am going to public comment, however, since most of that focused on zoning, with a number of comments about the zoning commission meeting on the previous Thursday.  However, that's all for this session.


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Resuming on October 1.
Public comment in the September 18 trustees meeting.

Carole Pollard, Allyn Road:   If it was not appropriate to bash John Dickey, Terri Vechery should not have been bashed either, period.  With her husband gone, Terri has the most information of anyone in the township about zoning.  I know what Terri's flash points are, and it sounds like she got John Dickey's attention.

Barb Herbold, Wayne Road:  Barb asked about Halloween, which had not yet been set up for the township.  Vic commented that we try to have it on Halloween from 5-7.
Barb also commented that it was so nice to see straight lines on Wayne Road.  Thank you.

Lynn Harvey, Mennonite Road:  To follow up on the pseudo violation letter.  Is there anything that we can do about that so that people who got them know that it is not valid?

Vic:  The people who have contacted me have been told that it was a warning letter.  I don't know how many went out.

Lynn:  He told me 22.
Vic:  I don't know for sure.  JLV said 40 went out.

Jason:  John Dickey said that there were somewhere about 30 violations and he talked to 20 of them.  So that left 10 to go out.

Lynn:  We have a concern as a board that we want zoning enforced, but we do not want it as a weapon.  People can vote it out and that would be a disaster.  This is serious.

John Festa:  Can you explain what you mean by a weapon?

Lynn:  The people who got them felt picked on.

JF:  I don't know what a weapon means.  [Oh, please!]   John Dickey doesn't even live in the community.  Who would he try to harm?  [Well, what if John Dickey is a surrogate's surrogate?  What about that possibility?  In the township's present climate, nothing is too morally outrageous to be a possibility.]

Jason:  We don't want to make the perception that zoning is being used wrongly.  The people who got the letters had several vehicles in their yards.  We need a level of some kind and consistency will do that over time.  If there are suggestions or comments, please bring them to the meeting or send us a letter.  We will be happy to address things on a case by case basis.
[Jason also mentioned that all of this information--the zoning book--is on the website.] 

 [Blogger:  JLV came to the meeting.  How much real consideration does it look as if he's going to get?  And a letter has two drawbacks:  No one likes to write one  and it would be far too easy for a letter or letters to get downplayed during trustees' reports and the business of the meeting.  For example:  "We have received a letter regarding a zoning issue from X, and we are looking into it."]

Mark Hall, Loris Drive:  What was the picture count [for the website virtual tour of the township]?
Answer:  22.

Mark:  See if it could start randomly.  That will give the appearance of being updated.

Continuing:   People talking with the zoning inspector first and having a letter in the door:  It might be better to leave a contact card with hours of availability and leave a voice mail.

Dale Zulla:  [Blogger:  I did not get the address.]  Thank the road crew for the job they are doing.
Also, John Dickey is doing a heck of a job and if something needs to be tweaked, it is a good point about a letter on the door.

Larry Leitzow, S.R. 82:  When Brian Tayerle was on vacation, Dan mowed as many of the roads as he could.  It looks nice on Winchell.  [Note:  Other roads still need attention to mowing; Larry's perception is very selective.]

Dave Pollard, S.R. 82:  I was at the zoning meeting also.  There is nothing ambiguous about the term "no more than one." and that seemed to be the crux of the problem.   John Dickey interpreted it as zero, and I don't think even a lawyer can misinterpret that.  He mentioned that on Timber Point, removing soil to put up a building was mining.  There is no way the zoning book can be interpreted that way.

 I find it curious [to Jason] that after all this time in office, you seem to be the last one to hear things.  Vic gets calls all the time if there is a problem.

I went off on John Dickey because he has absolutely no right to ask people for certificates of title or insurance.  He has no badge.  He has no right, and people gave him what he asked for because he is part of the township.  That is government by intimidation.   He has been/was told repeatedly that his boss is the zoning book and not the trustees.  He has been told that unless he does what the trustees tell him--or what one trustee tells him, that unless he does that, he will lose his job.  He needs to be reined in because he is abusing his authority.

[Blogger's boldface.  Those statements are crucial issues in any government.  Good government goes by the laws, no matter whether at the township or the national level.  Bad government goes by the whims and dislikes and enmities of the people in power.
Responsible officials see "power" as responsibility, a heavy but honorable burden.  Unethical officials see "power" as license to do whatever they want to whomever they want.  Typically, they want to use their power against people who legitimately object to their abuses and infractions.  In business, there are now laws protecting whistle-blowers for exactly that reason.]

Steve Zelinski, S.R. 82:  To Cal Brant: You are doing a nice job.
Also--we are still taking donations for the Mantua Veteran's Memorial to put up our glags.

Cal Brant, Wayne Road:  I was wondering if we can have some kind of maintenance schedule drawn up for the buildings so we don't fall  into the kind of thing we have.  I think that we can eliminate some problems.  This Saturday I will be here from 9-6.  I could use help with scraping.
For the veterans' memorial:  is someone going to shovel the snow?

Jason:  That will fall to the township.  It is on township property and falls to the trustees.  [Hmm.  I distinctly remember all of the assurances that the memorial would be at no cost to the township.]

Bob Zulla, Skinner Road: It seems funny that when someone is trying to do something good around here [they get criticized.] [ Blogger:  I did not get the exact wording here, but this is the jist of it.]  I am not saying John Dickey doesn't need to be reined in.  The predecessor before John Dickey wasn't there long, and was not doing the job.  [Blogger:  To the contrary:  The previous zoning inspector was doing what she was supposed to:  going exactly by the book--which got her micromanaged by John Festa and glared at in meetings.]
We want to see the township spruced up but there are people with houses . . . . [Blogger:  In my notes, the context and what seems to have been written don't match, and I am not going to suggest an approximate meaning in this case.]
Mr. Zulla, continuing:  If you don't want to get stopped, don't speed.  If you don't want to talk with John Dickey, don't do those things.

Larry Parsons, Wayne Road:  I think you handled the situation well.  A few months ago when people wanted to get rid of the zoning book, you handled that well.

Jason:  The zoning records were presented in boxes to John Dickey, and working through that . . . .

Vic:  I think you should commend Betsy Woolf for that and she did a lot on that.

Larry Parsons:  The predecessor left a mess.  [OK, now they are throwing a dead man under the bus.  Pretty much no one else is left.  Class.  Low.]

Vic:  They were moved in boxes.  There were not tons of boxes.  [A previous speaker praising John Dickey and how things are being done now used the term "tons" to refer to the zoning records.]
Vic, continuing::  There was a lot of old stuff that probably did not need to be kept.  I moved them all--there were not tons of boxes.  There were 9 boxes [for zoning].  There was a lot of paperwork but it has all been put away.

[Blogger:  Somewhere in here, Jason, I believe, asserted that Betsy was paid for filing the zoning records.  And John Dickey is being paid to be zoning inspector.  He complained several times that the records were a mess.  I think there is a difference between being unable to understand someone else's filing--it usually takes a little time and thought and attention--and the filing being a mess.  But it's easier to accuse someone who is dead of doing a bad job.  So Betsy did John's job. It's an old story:  the man throws up his hands and the woman rescues him.  Good on you, Betsy!]

Roger Hurd, Center Road:  I would just like to comment on zoning.  The intent of zoning is to bring into compliance those who are not, and the intent should be to work with people to get them into compliance and not threaten them first out of the box.  That has always been the intent of zoning.

Vic:  Every time I have talked with Chris Meduri, that is what he has said.

Dan Cozzens, Winchell Road:  Dan began by thanking the road maintenance.  Winchell always floods and the guys did a great job this year--we had the worst  rains we have every had.
As far as the zoning, for people who take care of their property, I have no problem with that.  People see houses with grass not cut, cars all over, who would want to move here?  A lot of houses need to be cleaned up.

[Blogger note:  People who have mistaken the rogue website for a legitimate government one have said the same thing after seeing what gets said anonymously:  If that is the way people are here, who would want to live here?  Long grass may offend others; nasty remarks have the goal of hurting others.]

[OK, here are a couple of observations:  Public comment in this meeting fell into 3 categories:  First, real concern that the zoning book, which has been carefully reviewed by several professionals and the assistant county prosecutor, is not being followed, and not followed in such a way as to get the township into serious legal trouble or outrage residents so thoroughly that they will rise up, get together a ballot issue, and abolish zoning.
[Second, praise from people with little or no experience with the book or zoning, for that matter, as far as anyone can tell.  Praise for exactly the practices that can have serious legal repercussions.  Let's see who applies to be appointed to the zoning commission when terms expire.  I bet they spoke up this evening.  Think about that.
[Third, diversions away from the real issues by slurring people who cannot speak for themselves or by praising something that, after all, is simply the job to be done.  Yes, it could be done badly or well--but it is the job.  And if it is being done well, we are fortunate.  That won't get us into court or bankrupt us.]

I have enjoyed as much of this dreck as I can stand for now.  There is other business that will be summarized, not presented in the amount of detail as the zoning issues were.  This post has not been exhaustively proofread, but corrections have been made in process.