The main topic of the meeting was about the second stage of the assessment of the school building. Doug Fuller and Dan Tillett, Building Assessment Committee members (Dan is co-chair), were present, as was Terrie Nielsen, co-chair of the Grants and Funding Committee. They gave updates and next steps.
Doug said that the work of the Grants and Funding Committee and [I believe] the CDBG resulted in being able to simplify the contract with DS Architecture, formerly Dave Sommers Architects. That simplification made room for the addition of a team of historic preservation consultants, Wellman and Naylor [or maybe Naylor and Wellman], who will be the agents to work with the Ohio Historic Preservation Office regarding the placement of the elevator.
Doug presented the revised contract, which Vic moved to accept and sign, seconded by Jason. That motion passed and the contract was signed.
The reason for calling on the services of Diana Wellman and Wendy Naylor is to have good advocates between the township and the school with the OHPO. The operating principle of renovating historic buildings is that the appearance and historic authenticity of the building not be altered by the revisions. Since the man at the OHPO has only seen photographs and is going by the above principle, he has made suggestions that would be less workable and more expensive [I believe] than the intended location and design.
Diana Wellman was the lead person for the successful application to put the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company headquarters on the National Register of Historic Places. She presented the application in Columbus on the same day that we went to support our application for the school. She was gracious enough to include a mention of our successful application in the press release that appeared in The Akron Beacon Journal about Goodyear.
Wendy Naylor wrote the successful application to put the Chase Bag building in Chagrin Falls on the National Register of Historic Places, and she gave your faithful blogger invaluable coaching for about six months while MaRSI was still The Friends of the School and we were working on putting together the open house and ice cream social.
Doug Fuller described the two women as knowing how to speak the language of historic preservation and renovation to people in Columbus. He also said that the fee they have quoted is a bargain.
[That will do for now. This was important enough for anyone who wants the school project to move forward so that I wanted to post the basic information before digging into Doug Fuller's detailed remarks in a longer post. I will give more detail on Terrie Nielsen's comments about the Grants and Funding Committee's application for a capital fund grant when I do the more detailed post. The application will be (and probably has been) sent to state senator Eklund's office.]
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.
