Another step!

Whenever I drive past the school building on Rt. 82, I look in on the way by.  With no leaves on the trees and shrubs, it's possible to see a little.

When I came past this afternoon, there was a cement truck at the building with the chute extended.  It sure looks as if they are pouring the concrete for the pit.

So another step has been made, and although most of us would like for them to be made closer together, they keep getting made. 

Trustees 1-19-17

[Blogger Foreword:  Although this was a short meeting and fairly routine, the blog will cover many of the details.  This meeting was an example of the unexciting but necessary business of the township.  Having attended almost every meeting since maybe early 2005, I wish more meetings had been this uneventful.]

Present:  Matthew Merchant, Record Courier reporter; Stacy Turner, The Weekly Villager reporter; Amy Janca; Sue Skrovan; Carole Pollard; Dave Pollard

The Commissioners are reducing the load limit on the [county?] roads by 25% by January 31.

Sue Skrovan reported on the Civic Center activity:  income was down somewhat, bu activities were up.  There were a fair number of cancellations.

Garden Club:  The Garden Club does not meet during the cold weather, but members will take down the decorations over the weekend.  [They did.]

Ladies Cemetery Association:  Nothing to report.  Meetings will resume in April.

The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc.:  Work is going forward on the Art Auction, Cookie Walk, and Mini Art Quilt silent auction.  A new category, Whimsies, has been added for things that do not fit the obvious categories but are worth offering.  Your faithful blogger joshed Jason about baking some cookies for the event, and he declined with good humor.

[Note:  The event is at the Mantua Center School building on Saturday, February 11, from noon until 5 p.m.  The live auction will begin by 1 (I think that's right) and bids for the mini art quilts will close at 2:30.  Cookies until they run out.  One way of participating would be to contribute cookies, which could be brought to the school around 10 a.m.  They will be sold for $6.00 per dozen--50 cents a cookie, which is a good price if you have checked what they go for at Heinen's. ]

John Festa reported that the Mantua Shalersville Fire Department answered 1417 calls last year--up by 141 from the previous year.

Neither John Festa nor Jason had anything in the way of trustee reports, but Vic did.

Vic:  We got the bill for the heating system work.  He treated us fairly.  He billed us for 10-1/2 hours, and I know he had more than that.  The bill was about $900.  Since then it [heat]  has been shut down twice, but it had nothing to do with him.  The plumbers came in on Saturday and shut down the water.  Right now the boiler is hooked jup through a garden hose.  [This will keep it going.]  The plumbers did not even hook the line back up.  This is typical construction, with everyone doing their own thing.

On the pit, they have decided the size of the sump to be put in:  24" x 36".  Today the mason was in shoring up under the beams.  They will have to undermine that [area] so they can get down further and begin on the pit.

John Festa asked  about the boiler, and Vic suggested that he read the bill, which apparently had a lot of information about the work done.

Also, the pole outside the township hall has been reset.  [It had fallen over earlier in the year or near the end of last year.]

Elevator:  E-mails have been going back and forth about the positive pressure smoke curtains.

John Festa reported that at the Fire Board meeting,he had asked about why we have to have all of these when the code specifically says that they are for a building of or over three stories.  Matt Roosa has made inquiries on our behalf, and a letter has been sent to the state elevator inspector.  His response was that the code was under the Ohio Building Code.  Matt and Chris Mullins [Blogger:  I may not have translated my shorthand correctly for that name] talked with the building department and then asked if we wanted to have a meeting with the Building Assessment Committee, building department, Hal Stamm, and the trustees.

[Blogger Note:  Apparently the height of the building is open to some interpretation.  When Dave Sommers Architects did a study of the school after it was purchased in 2004, it was described as 2-1/2 stories because only half of one story is above ground.  However, a different point of view is that it is a three-story building.]
 
John Festa:  I think that would be a wonderful idea other than putting fire blankets up.  We could meet at the fire department.  For us it would be a fact gathering mission.  I wanted to get your take on that.

Vic:  I think it would be excellent.

John Festa:  I think they wanted to share with us on these types of things.  I will check Matt Roosa's schedule and keep you informed.  Hal Stamm had a bill for $1400.  [Blogger:  My notes do not have any more than that about the bill.]

Jason:  [The township is working out the details to purchase] a new truck, an F350 with a plow.  Brian and I both thought there was a decent need for a new truck.  The total quoted was $34,000.

There was some discussion about this, and also about when to make the payments in relation to the times when the township receives its funds and when payments for the new Mack are due.  The terms are 0% down and then three payments of $11,000.

After a few more comments, Vic made the motion to purchase the F350, a 2016, for a price of $34,352.60, to be financed with the state bank for three years.  The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Jason mentioned that he would e-mail information to the other trustees about the shared services between the township and the church.

The next meeting (on February 2) will begin at 6:45 to do road crew evaluations.  That will be executive session, and the regular meeting will follow.  That will be announced/advertised.

No movement on the logo.

Jason reported on having checked with Terrie Nielsen, co-chair of the Grants and Funding Committee, about renewing the township's membership in the National Historic Preservation Trust.  After a little discussion, Jason made the motion to renew the membership, at a cost of $250 per year.  [One of the benefits of this membership is that the cost of plans can be applied for.  Other grants do not provide that benefit, and plans can cost tens of thousands of dollars for some projects.]

John Festa raised the subject of the license for use of land at the edge of the bull pen.  Apparently no response has been made by either the owner of the house there or the Webers, who are renting it and hope to purchase it.  John Festa's view is that he wants to be fair.  The license would grant the right for the owner to use the property (a relative sliver, but one that puts township activities or the use of the bull pen practically at the east wall of the house).  It could be revoked by the township at any time.

Public Comment was over at 8:10.

Dave Pollard had no comment.

Carole Pollard added some details about the art event.   

Elevator Project Progress

Technically, work on the elevator hasn't really begun.  It is in  demolition right now.

After all of the strife over the school and the elevator, "demolition" is enough to cause palpitations.

But it is the preliminary  work so the elevator can be installed.  What that means is eliminating everything in the location of the elevator shaft:  the floors, interfering duct work (and, no, it is not simply going to be capped off and left, but more about that in another post), and a lot of dirt--clay, actually--to make the pit for the elevator and also make room for a sump pump.  [I need to ask about that.]  The pit is being dug by hand, and the dirt is being hauled up the stairs and outside in 5-gallon buckets.

Steel I-beams have been installed to support the walls of the shaft, which will be "lined" with block; essentially, the walls of the building surrounding the shaft are being extended downward.

The south exterior wall of the building, where the earth was scraped away to reveal the location of the elevator for the contractors, has been cut out for the entrance into the elevator.  The opening has been blocked off with a sheet of plywood.

That "little" part of the project was a bear, from what I have heard.  The wall there is five courses of brick thick, and it is not ordinary brick.  It is hard and ate up a saw blade, from what I have been told.

On the inside, if a person could get to the area, it is possible to look clear up to the underside of the roof.  I think that's what is visible up at the top, anyway.  It's pretty amazing.  What really makes a building, or what makes it workable and usable, is all covered up.  A project like this one takes away that skin and shows the "bones"--and this building has incredible bones.

At the Chamber of Commerce meeting last week, the Crestwood Schools superintendent presented the concept for a new high school and said that if the bond levy  passes, the district would have a school for the next forty years.

Christy Borkan, who wrote our National Register application for the Mantua Center School building,
had this to say about its construction:  "They built it for the ages."

 So far, every professional who has been in the building regarding this project has pretty much said the same thing.

And everyone who has seen the work done so far has said that the contractor and workmen are doing a really good job.

So, a step at a time, we move forward.     

Mantua Twp. Trustees 1-5-17

The first meeting of the year is a "three-fer":  End of year, beginning of year, first meeting of the year, starting earlier than the regular time and running back to back.  Barring the really unusual, these are not exciting, but are the necessary bureaucratic operations of running the township government.

I assumed that things would begin at 7:00 p.m. and so missed the end-of-year meeting.  You will have to wait for the minutes or check the township website for the video.

Residents attending:  Sue Skrovan, Dave Pollard, Carole Pollard, Jan Oros.

At the beginning of the year meeting, officers and board representatives are designated.  These remained pretty much unchanged:

Chairman, trustees:  Jason Carlton; Vice Chairman, Victor Grimm.

Mantua Shalersville Fire Department representative:  John Festa, Vic Grimm alternate.

Zoning Commission:  Roger Hurd's term expired in September 2016; Joy Brunetti's term is up in 2017; Lynn Harvey, 2018; Nick Ehlert (?), 2019.  I do not have a note about an alternate.
For Board of Zoning Appeals, Terrie Nielsen's term is up in February.  Kathy Kelley's term is up in 2018; Bob Stehli, 2019; Joan Martin, 2010; Randy Alger, 2021.  Sandy Engelhart is the alternate.

After a little discussion,  the trustees agreed to reappoint Roger Hurd and Terrie Nielsen.
[I believe that advertisements had been posted on the township website, and legally the positions must be advertised in the newspaper as well.  It seemed that no applicants had come forward.]

For Regional Planning representative, Vic will continue, and Sandy Engelhart is the alternate.

John Festa will continue to represent the township to the Chagrin River Watershed Partnership.  Jason will be the alternate.

Salaries were reviewed.  For those details, wait for the minutes or look at the video of the meeting.

When the regular meeting--the first meeting of the year--was called to order,  Vic made the formal motion to reappoint Roger Hurd to the Zoning Commission and Terrie Nielsen to the Board of Zoning Appeals.

Vic: They have started working and digging the pit for the elevator.  This has caused some problems with the heating system.  I handled that with the contractor.  I went last night and reviewed it.
To John Festa:  Did you see them setting the beams?

John Festa:  I was there on Monday last.  With the duct work cut, it is blowing heat.

[Blogger:  News flash:  The furnace works, see above.  At the last meeting, there was flak about that.] 

Vic:  They set those beams and did a nice job.  They shored it all up today.  There is scaffolding up on the second floor underneath the third.

John Festa:  I need to go, probably Saturday.

Vic:  I don't think [the heat] worked on Monday, but I figured out what it was.  Part of itwasthat the door hadn't been shut and the dust got in there.  There is a lot of dust to be made.

John Festa:  I had a conversation with Hal Stamm about the plans examiner not giving us approval because of positive pressure [smoke curtains].  I am hoping Hal will be able to figure that out with a fan because it will be awfully expensive.  I ran this past our person at Gable [the elevator company employing John Festa].  They suggested that we adjudicate.  But the plans examiner said he would not budge.  I think we should go for that and let the board decide.  [Blogger:  This may be a building code board of appeals.]  Those codes have not even been adopted yet.
We are pretty close with the inspector.

Vic:  I have been trying to find out what I can and was at the fire department the other day.  I brought it up to them and they have worked with the building department.

John Festa:  They are trying to get to where the lobbies are pressurized and have doors that will seal.  You can't have both positive pressure and fire recall.
 [Blogger:  "Fire recall" means that when smoke is detected in a building, the elevator goes to the bottom of the shaft and then everything is locked.  Only the fire department has a special key that will unlock it.]

Continuing:  We are going by national elevator [codes].  I think Elevator code supersedes the building
code.  [. . . .] or the commissioners.  Tell them we are waiting and waiting and can't seem to get satisfaction.

Vic:  It is really not our project.  I tried to explain that to the contractors and I explained that Hal Stamm and Eric Hummel are the project managers.   They [contractors] think I am.  My concern is to make sure it is done right.  I don't want to have to re-do it.

Jason:  Charlie Corcoran [Building Dept. Head]--Since my first meeting (Hal Stamm asked about doing away with the positive air pressure) I have advised that the positive pressure has been on ___?___.  No one has specifically addressed the issue.  He seems to be asking exactly whjy this is not applicable.  The building department is going to keep asking this until Hal Stamm or someone tells them why it is not applicable.
[Blogger:  Jason was referring to a series of e-mails dealing with this topic.]

John Festa:  Even the National Fire Code won't adopt this.   Only the Ohio Building Codewantsto adopt it.  I offered for the right  person from my company to have a three-way conversation and explain that.  I don't know where that has gotten.
We [Gable] have put in 50-60 big projects and not one has required us to do the positive pressure.  50-60 big projects.  I think the plans examiner sees it in the code and wants to see something specific.

[At this point John Festa passed out the relevant Ohio Building Commission codes.]

John Festa:  You can not have positive pressure and fire recall at the same time.

Jason:  Does Hal Stamm have enough information on the elevator aspects?

John Festa:  From what the examiner said, he told the architect and Hal Stamm a year ago.

Vic:  The last thing we got--to Jodie Thompson--did you make copies of that letter?  [Blogger:  I do not have a record of the response.  There was one; I just didn't make a note of it.]
Continuing:  I think you [John Festa] would be a good start.

John Festa:  We are actually doing construction work without approval.  I don't know whether that is a good idea.  It seems as if we have no control of this project.

Vic:  That's why I am over there every morning between 7 and 7:30.

John Festa:  My problem is that we are doing things that we don't have approval for.  We don't know if it will add $50,000-$70,000 to the project.

Jason:  We are not in a position to stop it.  Let the construction continue.

John Festa:  If we can get the architect and Hal Stamm and Joe Isaac together, we can sit down and hash this out.

Then under old business there was some discussion about an insurance bill.

Public Comment was next.
Carole Pollard, 5359 Allyn Road.  I asked John Festa more about the elevator positive pressure smoke screens, and we had a conversation about that.  He gave me the e-mails and relevant sections of the building code and parts that applied to the positive pressure screens, saying that by the time I read through it all, I would be confused.

[A day ago, I did read the packet.  It contained the Portage County Building Department's position on this issue, which is that the positive pressure screens are necessary because they are a life safety item.  The code regulations take some attention.  For one thing, because this is technical/legal writing, the terminology must be extremely precise.  What that means is that it takes five words to describe exactly what the mechanism is, and then that term is repeated each time the mechanism is mentioned.

[Here is how I organized this in my mind:  It's like a tree trunk, with the elevator positive pressure smoke curtains being the trunk.  Then as appendages or branches which are also necessary, various test and code requirements are cited during the discussion.  It looked to me as if about three different codes and test manuals would have to be laid out on a big table so that a reader could move back and forth among them to get a full understanding.  It also looked to me as if only a specialist in that part of safety would understand it without that kind of back and forth referencing.

[What I can say about the issue is this:  There is not exactly agreement about how many of these curtains must be installed, three or four.  There is also not a clear figure for cost yet.  I have heard everything from $11,000 (not sure whether that's total or for each one) to $75,000.  Perhaps by the next meeting more will have been clarified.]

Dave Pollard, 3692 S.R. 82:  You said you can not have both elevator recall and positive pressure.  If the elevator went to the bottom then the door would prevent exit.

John Festa:  It is complicated.   I understand in my mind what it is, but I can't explain it.  The school of thought is trying to get away with[?] from[?] fire recall.  They want to have positive pressure and when the alarm sounds, they [inhabitants] would go to a safe room.  [Blogger:  Some of us immediately wondered what good that would have done on 9/11.]
The national board does not want this--it is only the state of Ohio.

Dave:  So when smoke is sensed, it automatically goes to the bottom floor and then it's dead.

John Festa:  If we can get the building department, Hal Stamm, the architect, and someone from my office to come here had have a meeting and explain this, we might be OK with it.

Dave:  The elevator will be all steel and no combustible materials, and when I was there getting shelves out, the guy working said, "This is a great old building--there is nothing to burn."

Jan Oros:  Is there a time frame?

John Festa:  We have no idea.  The project is not under our control.

Dave, to Vic:  If you need help with the plumbing, I will help you.

Vic:  Steve [Oros] and Dennis [Jahns] must have planned for that because there is a valve there.

After that, there was a motion to pay the bills, and I left.  The meeting was over right around 8 p.m.