[This post is not verbatim, which would have made it twice as long. I believe that this abridgement is accurate in what it presents and true to the intent and substance of the meeting.]
The next item concerned water/flooding on Benning Drive. Two residents had come to the meeting, and they mentioned a third, a neighbor of theirs, I believe.
Jason announced that a cross culvert was being replaced which will divert the water. There is some work to be done to get the water across Town Line Road.
One of the residents: The [existing] culvert is too small, and the township put it in. He had mentioned getting a new culvert under his drive because the one there is showing its age. If the ditch is overwhelmed, the water will come into his house.
The other resident: At the corner of Benning and Town Line the pipe under the road is smaller. The visible pipe is very large, but under the road the pipe is smaller. That was all determined by the Aurora engineer. The township installed it to his specifications.
Jason: The water is sheeting from private property, and so it is outside the township's concern. The ditches are for the roads. We can only go from right of way to right of way.
[Blogger: I wonder if Jason has any idea how detached and completely unconcerned this sounds. To me, it also sounded as if Jason and the resident were speaking at cross purposes. They did not seem to come to any understanding.]
Jason: We are putting this on hold.
Resident: Can I please be kept in the loop? Eric Long [with the County] said the neighbors should have been notified, and I was not.
Jason apologized for that.
Vic: I appreciate you giving us a call. I was not aware of this cross culvert until you called me.
Resident: We keep getting different stories from each person. There is miscommunication all over the place.
[Blogger: The comment was added that the conversation on this situation began 1-1/2 to 2 years ago.
Next Jason mentioned an Ohio Edison outage and a low-hanging wire on Center Road. He described the frustrations and ineffectiveness of trying to call and report something like this. [Blogger: I believe that something may go onto the website to instruct people how to report problems by phone. There is a way of frustrating the system so that a resident actually gets a live person at Ohio Edison, but I forget what I stumbled into several years ago. Jason commented on how long he was on the phone with few results or none.]
Then Jason reviewed the road work for 2016. He said that the person who will estimate the crack seal picked up the list of roads to review and came up with the costs.
We also got a quote from Todd Lamb for Old Taylor Woods. Jason asked for the board's thoughts.
Vic thought we should do it; the base is not very good.
Todd's projection was $17,682. A motion was made to approve that amount, for 715 feet at Old Taylor Woods. Seconded and approved.
Paving on Old Frost: First, keep the chipper for another week to chip the trees being cut out. There was also, [I believe] some mention of drainage. An estimate last year for a primer coat was $21,983 for chip and seal. [My notes also have a note about regrading.]
Jason: If it is not possible to do all of that this year, get the prep done, put on a primer coat, and let it sit to see what the road bed does and then do the chip and seal.
When Jason asked for anything else on the roads, John Festa commented: A couple of us have noticed that the chip and seal on Winchell which was just done is pretty bad.
There was some discussion about the contractor.
Jason: This is the first complaint I have heard.
Amy Janca described how the cracks are opening, as well as chuckholes. She went into some detail.
Jason: I thought they had had excellent success.
John Festa displayed some "stuff" he had found at East Lawn--from Civic Center roofing.
Vic: It is the wind. Every time we get a a storm this happens. I contacted someone about the soffit because water is coming in. This roofing is about 16 years old and is three-tab. No one does that any more.
There was more about that.
Jason asked about ice guard.
Vic: There is three feet of ice guard all around.I was going to have him look at it and see how many squares are up there.
Salt: Vic said there had been correspondence about that after the meeting of the salt group. He asked Jodie Thompson about the purchase order and said there should be about $6600 left on the p.o., and Jodie should make sure it was there.
Vic: Through the co-op we joined, we have the opportunity to buy whatever Akron U. does at the same price.The nice thing is that we have a voice and a vote in this organization now.
Continuing: I also went to the Commissioners' office for the presentation about Phase 2 of the CDBG. Linda Ehlert did the presentation; it was good.
Vic also mentioned the article in the Record Courier that the state legislature had signed the capital bill and it is now going to the governor.
[Note: Probably the next day or so saw the announcement come out that the township is getting $140,000 from that bill.]
Jason mentioned that if anyone has a viable project for an Eagle Scout, let him know.
Vic: I wonder if he would be willing to look at the fence around Pioneer Cemetery.
Then the indigent burial came up. John Festa made a motion for the trustees to sign the policy as written; seconded and passed. John Festa is going to send Brent Simon the text, to be posted on the township website.
Jason described the process of working with the school's graphic arts class and showed the results.
There had been talk about the township selling t-shirts. Vic did not think that is possible, since the township is not a 501 c 3, and making a profit with tax payers' money is not permitted.
Jason thought the students should be rewarded--maybe $75.00 for pizza--and Vic suggested taking up a collection among the trustees to cover that. [Blogger: There may be some prohibition against using township money for that, too.
The next part of the meeting was public comment, which will be a separate post.
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.
