Public Comment: This is a transcript of my notes, almost but not necessarily verbatim. The meaning and content are true to the remarks.
Sue Skrovan, Wayne Road: When we were talking about the fiscal officer's room, I agree with the hardwood flooring. A suggestion might be an area rug under the desk and the files for the clerk. You still have the hardwood floors.
The other thing was that you (to Jason) had left a request for some information. [Blogger: My notes have nothing further here; this may have had to do with one of the zoning commission meetings or hearings.]
Carole Pollard, Allyn Road: My remarks will be summarized, not verbatim.
I asked about the sign on Center Road approaching the school at the curve. It has been installed.
Second, I seconded Sue's support of the hardwood floors, citing an allergic reaction I had had (one of only two in my whole life) to the chemicals that outgassed from new carpet being installed.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: We have all seen stuff on TV about deliveries being picked up and stolen. A couple of weeks ago I was picking up bales and saw a pickup truck in the driveway. Susan went out and talked to him. She asked what he was there for. He said Equal Opportunity Employment. He had a paper in his hand. She asked why and he said it doesn't say anything on the paper. It was a white GMC standard extended cab. I called the sheriff, who took a report but could do nothing. There did not seem even to be a camera [in the truck]. I just wanted people to know that something like that is going on.
The other one is that my neighbor got a call from someone claiming to be his grandson asking for bail money.
To Jason: Do you have any examples of prospective logos?
Jason: I passed them out to everyone before the end of the school year. There were several that students in a computer design class did.
Then Jason talked about how he had contacted the art teacher. The next steps are to contact the teacher again and it will go back to the students.
Dave asked if Jason could bring the samples.
Then, to John Festa: I am kind of curious about the zoning. This is the second time you have had questions and concerns about something. You never followed up on your questions of Steve Coon. On the rezoning of Roundup Lake, I wonder why you did not contact him [Chris Meduri] yourself instead of going through other people.
John Festa: Because the amended resolution was that I would be OK with the amendment if Chris Meduri would just write a letter to approve it and I gave that back to the commissioners. I did not think that was my place [Oh, please! Since when such "humility?"] You are the ones who wrote the amendment.
DP: And you had concerns about it.
JF: I told Lynn Harvey that I had no problem with the resolution but with the language.
[Blogger: I am at a loss as to how to separate the two. No language, no resolution.]
DP: I am still curious about why you went through a third party.
JF: Dave, I handled it the way I handled it. There was no reason . . . .
Dave: That's what I thought.
[Blogger: There are no more notes on this exchange. If there was more, it was all in the same vein, and I think you get the drift.]
Cal Brant, Wayne Road: You addressed a lot of questions I had tonight about moving forward with the fiscal officer's room. With the permission of the trustees, I would like to look at what needs to be done and make some suggestions and get a little help and pay a professional to come in and tape.
[Also] consider getting the floor ready, and Vic has some concerns about the painting being done so it looks professional. We can speed it up and make your life a little easier during the transition.
I am going to talk with Brian Tayerle ion the morning because there is a little more to be done to get the stairs done right and removing the bolt ends.
The other thing I would like to have some input from the trustees about is that I have had some discussion with people in the community and something that has come up a couple of different times is that the road crew doesn't have a bathroom over there. I wondered if there was a way to make it more comfortable.
Vic: There is no place for the septic system. There is less than 1/3 acre.
Cal: Have we looked into any other option?
Vic: They can use the Civic Center, the school, or this building.
John Festa: There are options. We can look into running a pipe up to the sewer [line on Rt. 82] and connecting to it.
Vic: It would be costly. Not only that, once that line runs past, this building and the Civic Center and Bud Foster's house would have to be connected up to it.
Jason: I think that there are options and nothing is inexpensive. the property behind the garage is owned by the Pecks and I don't know whether they would be willing to sell any of that. I have heard concerns come up as well, but nothing leads to a cheap solution. It is worth investigating. We will have to put pencil to paper but you need normally a commercial run by a facility [?] and it all has to be up to commercial code.
[Blogger: This is purely a guess, but the above remarks look like Jason being conciliatory and sounding positive but not necessarily being in favor of the idea. This project could make parts of the school look like pin money, and for the life of me I do not know what prompted Cal to raise the issue. Several years ago when there was yammering about the school's septic system, I talked with someone in one of the county offices about what it would take to hook up to the Rt. 82 line. A conservative estimate, barring glitches, was at least $25,000 just for the school. Every house around the school would also then be required to hook in--a considerable hardship for several of those people, I believe.]
Cal: If we at least got an idea of some of the options. [What about the cost of those options]
JF: I will take a look and see what is available. I have heard concerns for many years. I don't know of too many places that don't have facilities.
[Blogger: My turn. Let's just use the ballpark figure above just to get a line from the garage to Rt. 82. Then there is the cost of hooking in the Civic Center and the Township Hall. Let's just be optimistic and figure that each of them would only take about $12,500. That brings the cost just to the township up to a guesstimate of at least $50,000, and the numbers I'm assuming are at least from four years ago.
Two houses, I believe--Bud Foster's and the house on what used to be Square Drive--would also have to tie in. I don't know what that would be, but I don't believe either owner has somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 lying around. Where did that number come from? A faded memory of some of the costs to owners in Aurora Meadows when all that sewer work was done. It was a necessity, but it was a distinct hardship. There is nothing about this present issue that seems to be a necessity. Granted, it would be a convenience--but a very expensive one.
And let's not forget what Vince Coia mentioned about new sanitary legislation in the offing.]
Public Comment ended at 9:10. Some of us stayed around and talked a little while the bills were being paid, but your faithful blogger went home a little before adjournment, since no other major business was going to be transacted.
About This Blog
The purpose of this blog is to give an accurate account of what is said during Public Comment at Mantua Township Trustees meetings.
Trustees' decisions are in the official minutes, available on request from the Mantua Township Fiscal Officer, Jodi Thompson, at 330-274-8443. The Township charges 10 cents per page. FAX, 330-274-8447. E-mail, fiscalofficer@mantuatownshipohio.gov. The minutes are also posted on the website after they have been approved. That means that there is usually a two-week lag between a given meeting and the minutes being available to read on the website.
Since meetings are the first and third Thursdays of the month, there is a three-week wait during months with five Thursdays.
Other items of interest or the writer's opinions will be included from time to time, clearly identified.
This is not a forum or chat room, but a source of information, so it is closed to outside input.
During the time I have been doing the blog, the posts have expanded to become very detailed accounts of the meetings. Doing that is time consuming, to say the least, and I am going to try to return to the public comment focus, with background and perspective (and the occasional pointed editorial comment). Such additions are usually enclosed in brackets. However, since some extended accounts of the meetings reveal significant things--and character--better than I could by commenting, there will probably still be a fair amount of semi-transcript. (Sigh.)
My thanks to the readers who have found the blog, and to the ones who from time to time tell me that they value it. You have encouraged me when the tedious work of keyboarding has made me wonder why I am doing this. Then you have reminded me, and I am grateful.
Trustees' decisions are in the official minutes, available on request from the Mantua Township Fiscal Officer, Jodi Thompson, at 330-274-8443. The Township charges 10 cents per page. FAX, 330-274-8447. E-mail, fiscalofficer@mantuatownshipohio.gov. The minutes are also posted on the website after they have been approved. That means that there is usually a two-week lag between a given meeting and the minutes being available to read on the website.
Since meetings are the first and third Thursdays of the month, there is a three-week wait during months with five Thursdays.
Other items of interest or the writer's opinions will be included from time to time, clearly identified.
This is not a forum or chat room, but a source of information, so it is closed to outside input.
During the time I have been doing the blog, the posts have expanded to become very detailed accounts of the meetings. Doing that is time consuming, to say the least, and I am going to try to return to the public comment focus, with background and perspective (and the occasional pointed editorial comment). Such additions are usually enclosed in brackets. However, since some extended accounts of the meetings reveal significant things--and character--better than I could by commenting, there will probably still be a fair amount of semi-transcript. (Sigh.)
My thanks to the readers who have found the blog, and to the ones who from time to time tell me that they value it. You have encouraged me when the tedious work of keyboarding has made me wonder why I am doing this. Then you have reminded me, and I am grateful.
Principles
Two ideas guide and support me:
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
______Attributed to Edmund Burke
GOOD PREVAILS.
Those ideas are also the reason I have been doing the blog since late February 2011.
I have discovered that a transcript is almost impossible to do and that verbatim accounts are usually not absolutely necessary. When in doubt, I check against a recording.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
______Attributed to Edmund Burke
GOOD PREVAILS.
Those ideas are also the reason I have been doing the blog since late February 2011.
I have discovered that a transcript is almost impossible to do and that verbatim accounts are usually not absolutely necessary. When in doubt, I check against a recording.
