Trustees 11-6-14

Blogger Foreword:  About the "ten pounds in a three-pound bag" remark:  Someone should have told me that the key word for retirees is "No."  Your faithful blogger is secretary for The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc;   Chair of the Mantua Historic Landmarks Commission and, by default, liaison between the commission and the DMRC; and a member of at least one of the committees set up to develop a plan for using the school building.  The first meeting of the Building Assessment Committee was last Tuesday, November 11, and when the need for a secretary was identified, there I was, taking notes as usual.  So I was drafted to provide minutes for that meeting.  The rest of the last ten days' schedule is unnecessary--you probably get the idea.

So here we go with the last trustees meeting, just in time for the next one.

Several sets of minutes were reviewed and accepted.  Check the Township website.

The township has submitted an Ohio Public Works (OPW) grant application for paving Aurora Meadows and part of John Edward Drive.

Fiscal Officer's Report:  The Civic Center has passed the health department inspection.  An executive session was requested for personnel.

Cal Brant has submitted two bills for work on the Township Hall.  One can be paid tonight, and the other one will require funds being moved.  The smaller one is $4600; that is the one requiring moving money.
Also, Brent Simon has been fine tuning the website, and paying him will require moving money. 

The amounts moved were $2600 from Medical/Hospitalization and $2000 from tax collection fees.
Marie asked whether the paint had been paid for.
Vic:  Some of the paint has been donated.
Marie:  We have a bill for paint for $500 for my office, so change to $3,000 in Medical/Hospitalization.
Jason moved to shift the money; John Festa seconded; Unanimous.

Zoning:  John Dickey reported $225 for a new residence and that we are waiting for the prosecutor to come up with court dates.  Work is beginning in LaDue Reserve.
Zoning Office hours are going to winter hours of 3-5 p.m. and by appointment as needed because the room is cold.

Jason mentioned having given the [revised] warning letter to John Dickey and Vic.  Vic said he had something to hand out also.

Zoning Commission, Lynn Harvey:  The hearing regarding the Carlton mulch operation has been continued until next Thursday, which is a regular meeting night.  It will be at the Township Hall and if possible a short meeting will follow the hearing.

Sexton, Jim Aldrich:  Cemetery fees:  $450 burial
                                                               160 foundations
                                                             1,855 grave sales
In West Lawn, Enterprise removed two trees.  The road crew did a wonderful job of cleaning up after the stumps were ground.
All of the foundations have been poured and all but one or two of the monuments have been placed.
The west driveway has slowly worked itself over to the west and will have to be corrected.  When I go through my burial book, it shows a couple of graves [for which] I am not locating anything.  All of this is in the bottom driveway.  I want to know where those two graves are before proceeding.

Next the trustees discussed new pricing for the cemetery.
Jim:  Those are suggestions on our part.

Jason added that Vic had handed out something at the last meeting, and Jim said that most everything that Vic put in was pretty much what we had.

Pricing of the foundations was discussed, as were fee schedules.

Vic:  We will have to watch to see how it works out.  There is a $20.00 increase in the five years since 2009.

There was also some discussion about interment fees and clarification about how to present that information.

Marie asked about a fee for reissuing a deed.
Vic said that information is in the ORC.

There was general agreement about the fee schedule, and Jason made a motion to approve it as presented.  Vic seconded.  Unanimous.
The effective date of the new fee schedule  was set for December 1, 2014.

Next, cemetery rules for West Lawn were discussed.  John Festa wanted more time to review them, with an eye to making them more concise and more readable.  Other regulations were discussed also.

Jim Aldrich:  Some things that the rules prohibit are actually showing up.  Jim said he would just try to be there when people are working on the newer graves so he can talk with them about it.

Vic:  The rules under discussion are still a draft.  He had tried to compile everything into one coherent statement.

Road Department:  Brian Tayerle was on vacation; the crew is getting ready for winter.
Vic added that a new part time person had been hired as an on-call employee.  He was in for this day and the next to get oriented on the trucks.

John Festa reported that the crew was working on a ditch problem at 2848 Pioneer Trail, and there was some discussion about a speed sign that had disappeared and what the speed limit is supposed to be there.

Veterans' Memorial, Frank Horack:  Since the last meeting the five service flags have been installed.  Frank thanked the people and businesses that donated.

Jason asked about whether Frank wanted to report at the next meeting; Fran thought it might be after the first of the year.

All three trustees commented that the flags look good.  

Trustees Reports
John Festa commented on difficulties with the generator-driven lights at the polling place on election day. They had gone out a couple of times last year, and this time it was hard to restart them.  They went out after they left, and no one was there to tend them.  [What about Trustee Festa doing that?]  We have to find a way to put some lights there.
If you want me to go ahead I will look at it and make some suggestions at the next meeting.

Jason suggested making lights a requirement with the Board of Elections.

Marie suggested permanent lights, and Vic suggested that this was a topic for the Building Assessment Committee.
Marie:  As poll workers we appreciate having them.

John Festa to Marie:  Can you get me the signed letter of appreciation for the donation to the Township Hall?  [The donation mentioned is the one from Larry and Gloria Leitzow.]

Vic to Jason:  I went through warning letters and found some old ones that John Vechery had used.  Vic passed out the new draft to the other two trustees and John Dickey.
Vic, continuing:  The notice of violation came out of the zoning book.  The rest is pretty much the basic form.

Jason gave a township hall update:  It is painted.

Vic:  The colors on the scrollwork are backward and when the weather permits, it will be corrected.
[Note:  During the preparation to paint the building, a sheaf of wheat flanked by two scroll-like forms was discovered over the entrance door, invisible because everything was white.  The wheat was supposed to be yellow (gold), and the side pieces green.  The painters insisted to Linda Ehlert that the way they did it was the way it is supposed to be.]

Jason:  I think everything looks good.  I appreciate everyone who helped out whether with time or money.

Vic:  There is a lot of paint and primer on that.  The shutters are being painted now.
To Marie:  You got the donation from MaRSI?

Marie:  I have asked Lynn Harvey for paper work on this.

Vic:  MaRSI paid over $1300.

Old Business
Sign Grant Update:  Jason reported that perhaps within the next week we could begin putting up the new signs to replace the old ones. 

Mantua Center School:  The school committees and volunteers were designated at an October meeting with Todd Peetz.

John Festa:   I am looking forward to the next phase.  I want to talk with Todd Peetz about the way he formed it.  My intention  -- our intention as a board was to have it only for professionals.

[Blogger's emphasis above. I think that the first phrase there is exactly right:  John Festa's intention was to have the building assessment committee be professionals only.  To the best of my recollection, this never even became a clear consensus, let alone being put into a motion.  And the committees were supposed to be handled by Todd Peetz, who has done these things successfully before.  No one else around here has those performance credentials.  But if the trustees--well, John Festa and his boss--take their hands off it, OMG, the people may actually get what they have said many times that they want: to be able to use our building.]

John  Festa, continuing:  I don't think we need all those volunteers on that committee.  We were all in agreement [were they?] and it did not turn out the way we directed Todd Peetz.

Continuing:  Newsletter and recording the meetings:  Nothing back about the newsletter from the Crestwood Schools superintendent.

Marie:  I got a call the other day from  the attorney for the school, wanting to know how we were handling this.

John Festa:  Maybe they are making headway.  I did not have a chance to set up the camera today.  We will be posting it on the website.  Chris Meduri approved the terms of use.

Jason brought up the new zoning commission terms.  Marie said the date to respond is in December.
He also mentioned the logo.  The graphic design class at the high school begins in January.  The instructor thought it would be a nice project.

Public Comment
Most of the time in public comment went for a resident on Pioneer Trail who has a property that according to the health department must have a new septic system or tie into the sewer line.  The woman is in her 80's and was recently widowed.  She has been trying to get answers and is much daunted by the potential expense of the solutions.  [To me, it sounded like a perfect swamp of bureaucracy, with jurisdictions not clearly defined or defined in such a way as to make no sense at all to the layman.]  The house is in the township, but the sewer lines apparently are the village's.
The final non-solution, but at least an offer of what help could be given, was that the township would write a letter approving that work could be done in our right of way, and when the work was to be done, our Road Supervisor, Brian Tayerle, could be on hand.

[Note:  My practice in dealing with public comment is not to identify people who are not accustomed to coming and who may have situations that are difficult.  The rest of us, who are at almost every meeting in the capacity of observers and commentators, get identified.]

Mark Hall, Loris Drive:  About the MaRSI paint donation.  It was 15 gallons of primer, 15 gallons of paint, and 5 gallons of green [for the shutters].  Lynn Harvey will total the various contributions MaRSI (The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc.) has made.

Carole Pollard:  No comment.

Dave Pollard, S.R. 82:  After the October 22 meeting at the Civic Center, it was obvious that the chairs had not been put back as they had been.  I did not hear if anything had been done about that. [The event in question was the clambake.]

Here is what happened while the men who attended that October 22 meeting were putting the chairs away. 

Dave Pollard:  "There is no excuse for this."
John Festa:  "I agree, Dave."
Dave:  Whoever it was should forfeit their deposit."
John Festa:  "I couldn't agree more, Dave."  

Below is what actually got done about that:

John Festa:  Two members of the Ruritans were there [on the green] last Sunday and they were let in and straightened everything up.

Sue Skrovan:  [Sue does the cleaning and rental for the Civic Center.]  The last thing that had to be done was the chairs. There was additional cleaning that had to be done.  Wait until Marie comes back unless you guys want to determine how much [of the deposit] to hold.
[Nothing was said or recommended about that.  But here's the rub:  Once a renter gives back the keys, that's supposed to be it:  no further entry into the building. Then the adherence to the rental contract is evaluated and the deposit is either returned or some portion or even all is kept.  That's one part of the rub.

[The other is special favors for friends.  On that Sunday, the flags were installed.  Apparently the only time that work can be done on the Veterans' Memorial is on Sunday during services at the Mantua Center Christian Church.  ". . . they were let in. . . ."  A trustee, who should follow all of the township's policies and procedures, decided not to do so.  When a public official  ignores the law, the people are in trouble.]

Dave Pollard, continuing:  The only other thing is that on election day Cal Brant and two helpers wrapped the bottom edge of the bell tower at the school with donated plastic.  This will protect the tower from the weather.  It happens to be black plastic but that was all that could be found.

Public Comment ended, and your faithful blogger went home.