Minutes of the regular meeting and a special meeting were reviewed and accepted. The special meeting was to discuss hiring a road crew worker to replace Dan Wyznski, who resigned to take a job with the Ohio Turnpike Commission.
Doll Lumber is contributing 8 yards of mulch to the township, an annual kindness.
Vic asked about a purchase order for Cargill for $5400 as well as a second P.O. to fulfill the township's commitment for salt.
Jim Aldrich's report as sexton and the "park committee" blurred together.
Jim presented some information about trees that had to be pruned or possibly removed. There was discussion about tree #1 and another, which apparently Vic was clear on.
Jim: The tree people thought a couple of trees on Center Road should be removed.
On the West Lawn first drive one of the maple trees needed to have dead limbs removed, plus some trimming.
Vic asked about the money in the cemetery fund. As it turned out, only Yarnell of the three businesses contacted came back with a quote. Vic made a motion to have Yarnell take care of the tree at the cemetery. There was more discussion about trees and their condition.
Vic to Amy Janca: Have you gotten any prices on 2"-3" caliper trees? We are cutting trees down but not replacing them. Those trees were planed in 1906 by Frost.
Answer: A couple of years ago 2-1/2"-3" trees were $250 each. Amy offered to get a quote.
Vic: Maybe two trees for here in the park and as money goes we need to replace some trees in East Lawn. The ones there have to be over 200 years old.
John Festa just happened to have something that Amy had put together from the Ohio Forester.
Amy: They will send a certified forester to the area to check everything for what you are interested in reforesting. They have an extensive list of trees, but prefer to take soil samples to match the trees to the area.
Vic offered to give him a call. Amy added that there is no fee for the service.
There was a little more discussion.
Vic: We keep cutting trees but not replacing them. I don't want to keep replacing them with fir trees. When this area was set up in 1906-07, it was with maple trees. A lot of people enjoy this area [the green] and are actually trying to copy it. We have quite a jewel here at Mantua Center.
Vic made a motion to remove tree #1 and maybe the dead ones at the same time and leave alone the ones on Center Road. John Festa seconded. Unanimous.
Jim Aldrich: The bullpen. A model of the gazebo [which in no way matched the photos of typical gazebos also on hand] and drawings and prints of the ideas were on the side table.
Jim: The engineer came and surveyed and located the property corners on the western side. Because of the traffic when they were here, I saw no reason to have them stand out there for the corners.
[Blogger: OK. There was too much traffic for the surveyors to risk it, but there is talk about an additional driveway. Also, remember that three years ago when the bullpen was suggested as a better site for the veterans' memorial that location was too dangerous because of the traffic.]
Jim, continuing: The engineer will come back later and pin the right of way on Diagonal Road.
There is a problem: The property on the western border is encroached by the barn and the access for their property is off township property. They are apparently not aware of that. We need for the township to be able to deal with this so that we can create a park for our community for the residents.
[Blogger: Two things here. First, Jim was apparently unaware that the woman sitting quietly in the back row lives in the house at what used to be Square Drive.
Second, the whole discussion about their buildings profoundly unsettled me. There was no recognition that people live there whose home was being discussed as a mere inconvenience that had to be coolly dealt with. There was not the slightest hint of any recognition that maybe the township should consider neighborliness and the weight of custom in this issue.]
John Festa mentioned a legal concept called adverse possession, which applies in private ownership but not in the case of government ownership. He had talked with Chris Meduri, and the township can grant the residents a license to be there. Chris is going to send the township a letter.
JF: It does not look to me like a foot or two, but quite a bit. That has been there for a long time.
Mrs. Weber, the resident, now spoke up: We are going to be buying that. Our daughter lives upstairs, and we can not afford to go anywhere else.
Vic: That is a lot line, not a boundary line. [Blogger: This distinction is out of my field of knowledge. It may affect who owns what. May.]
Jim: It needs to be resolved.
Mrs. Weber: I went to the property tax department a couple of years ago. That map shows Diagonal Road to S.R. 82, and the piece of Diagonal closed off. I am going to get hold of our landlady to see about a copy of her deed..
John Festa: We will have to discuss this as a board. I am sure we will be fair.
Vic: We have maintained that drive to keep it open so you can get into your driveway.
Mrs. Weber: Except for the first year when my husband got stuck.
Vic: I think it is still on our inventory.
Jason: The small shed looks like --
John Festa: The line runs almost across the face of it.
Jason: It is on their property.
Jim: The barn is about 14-15 feet onto township property.
Vic: Beth Pearson came out and found the pins. We have met with the county and they looked at line of sight and trimmed the brush including brush on Mantua Center. They are doing some surveying yesterday and today. They are going to send a sign crew out.
JF: Your legal address is Diagonal Road, not S.R. 82.
Mrs. Weber: The GIS map shows almost nothing until halfway up the hill.
Vic: The description is the main thing, not the tax map. Those two pins have been shot, and they can be logged in by satellite. They have been pretty diligent. I don't know what they will do about the curve.
They will worry about line of sight regarding that berm first proposed as 5 feet high. There are ODOT rules about such things--they dictate 3 feet high. They recommend a 3:1 slope on any type of berm. They do not want anything either too high or too low. Too low launches a car and too high rolls it over. Three people from the Portage County Engineer came out.
Amy: I had spoken to Will about the height of the slope.
Vic: We had a dinner Saturday night at the engineer's office and we talked about it then. They were out here Monday morning at 9:30. [Blogger: Are you keeping track of who has done their homework and who is flying blind?]
Jason: We are talking about lot lines. The barn runs into the lot line.
Amy: There are three different aerial photos of the property and a mock up of the park design. Everything is all pictured there. [Blogger: It may be pictured on the photos, but the mock up raises more puzzlement than it clarifies, in my opinion.]
Jim: We are not looking at tearing the barn down. [Blogger: Just like that. With the potential owner sitting right there. It's on the township's property, so tough bananas? I know he said they weren't looking at tearing it down. But the focus here is completely on the township and its power, and it should not be hard for any reader to see my deep skepticism here.]
Jim, continuing: There may be ample parking on this side of the road with a driveway and a walkway. We will need signage.
Jim asked the trustees for stronger parameters to work with.
Jim: I think that going forward we need answers to these questions. We have people lined up to do the work and have donations for guys [?] to build the gazebo and drawings showing trees along Rt. 82. [So they have done so much work--never mind how well thought out in context--and so they can't possibly stop?]
Amy: There has been concern about existing trees on that property [the bullpen]. There are a number of very nice trees and we have no intention of disturbing anything that is a decorative tree in good condition--we will dig it up. Shrubbery at the flagpole will have to be dug up for the foundation [of the gazebo]. I am sentimental about such things and would never want to disturb existing trees.
Jason: If they can be removed . . . .
Amy: If they are small enough so they can be dug up and then replanted . . . . So the meaning and symbolic gesture remains as it was intended. [Blogger: And if they aren't small enough? Then what?]
Dave Pollard: Did I hear correctly that there is a plan to put a driveway in off Center Road? That is nuts. You are creating a safety hazard.
John Festa: It's a proposal.
Dave: The rubber stamp is not far away. Common sense should tell you.
Jason: There is a driveway at the Civic Center.
Dave: There is a proposal to make another driveway.
Jason: It is not surprising that the first comment is about negativity.
Dave and Carole Pollard, in unison: No, it's about safety!
Amy: We are not going to spend money if it is not approved.
Jason: We can look now and have a brief recess and look now. We don't have a lot on the agenda.
Vic: We can come back and look at it. [Blogger: That is what was done.]
Blogger: I have enjoyed as much of this as I can stand for one sitting. There will be at least two more posts for this meeting, maybe three,* but with luck none of them will be as long as this one.
*Upon re-reading this the next morning, I changed four (what was I thinking?) to three.
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.
