Following Jay Schabel's discussion with the trustees came club and committee reports.
Garden Club, Sue Skrovan: The Mantua Center Garden Club met in the township hall last night (9-20). We had a short meeting with a presentation by two beekeepers who life in the township. Their presentation was how to keep them and what the benefits are. We had a good meal from appetizers to deserts.
We discussed several things including the bullpen. The flagpole looks very nice but our concern is the trees that have been moved that we did not really discuss moving. The burning bushes look OK, but the weeping cherry looks very bad and it looks like it is dying. The other trees and shrubs were planted in memorial and we never discussed moving them. We don't see why they have to be moved at this time because the flagpole is done and the fence is going to be going up.
The next meeting is October 18 at 6:d0. We will be working on a couple of the windows salvaged from the building./ We will be working with the historical society to decorate for their Christmas walk the first two weekends in November.
Jason: Have you talked with Jim Aldrich about that tree?
Amy Janca: That was even a surprise to me. I did not make the decision on that. Jim Aldrich thought it would look nice balanced [between the burning bushes]. We had hoped that the [Blogger: Missed a word here] season would help us with water, but it has not. We do not intend to move anything else. As long as this drought continues, we have other plantings. I have been babying trees at home because it is silly to plant them. It's easier to water them at home at this time. This weather is absurd. What is there is going to stay there.
[Blogger: Well, that sounds all fine and reasonable, but this whole bullpen "project" has been shall
we say "fluid." Not to say slippery.]
For the LCA, Amy had nothing to report.
Dave Pollard was next. [Your faithful blogger just asked him on the spot to comment, thinking he would report on the corn maze, the restoration society's main fund raiser. In doing that with no previous discussion with Dave, I put him into the position of commenting on what was uppermost in his mind, a new thing. The corn maze is a steady fact of life for restoration society members from late September through October. So--what follows is something that both Dave and I have had a fair amount of comment about for some time. Dave's comments follow.]
We are working on signatures on a letter of support for the trustees [about the intersection here]. A person does not need to be a township resident to sign the letter, but someone who goes through the intersection. I wanted to bring that up to prevent fuss about non residents. We are trying to get signatures at the corn maze. We think the more signatures we have, the better.
[Blogger: The following people have copies of the letter to sign: Carole Pollard, Dave Pollard, Susan Skrovan, Lynn Harvey, Linda Ehlert, Jan Oros, Mark Hall, and I think Terri Vechery. We are all easy to contact and would be happy to take your signature. The letter is intended as support to encourage the trustees to request that ODOT regrade the intersection in 2019, when another project is scheduled for the dip and culvert between Mark Kramer's and Steve Zielinski's places.]
"Beautification Committee", Amy Janca: The split rail fence was not provided as promised, and we can work on the installation next week. Nothing new--no additions.
Jason: Thank you and Frank Horack as well. They power washed the benches and picnic tables out here. [The Ruritan Clambake was over the upcoming weekend; to the best of my knowledge, Frank is a member.]
Amy commented further.
Jason mentioned a type of sealer for concrete.
Fire Department: John Festa: Still waiting for us to submit our application for the health insurance.
New business, trustee reports, and announcements came next.
Jason: The township purchased a new mowing tractor and we now have a Ford TW that we no longer need, and we purchased a new roller from Todd Lamb, so we have a roller we no longer need.
[There was some discussion about that and both Jason and John Festa turned to Vic.]
Vic: They paid good money for that when it was purchased. We should get $4500, so maybe we should put a little higher value on it so we get what we want.
Jason suggested a minimum bid.
Vic: I think the minimum bid should be $4300.
Jason mentioned a legal ad, and put it by the road with a sign on it. Sealed bids, minimum bid $4300.
Then Jason went to the tractor with the mower. The tractor is probably worth more without the mower. I would say $9,000. It has good tires, but it has quite a few hours on it.
[That recommendation was agreed upon.]
Why don't we do estimated value and minimum bid. Do you want to include the mower and ditching head as well? There is also scrap value for the ditching head. I have the legal ads for the truck and can use them as the template [for these ads].
New Business, John Festa: [Blogger: I am going to summarize this and comment on it, not do a verbatim transcription.]
The report was about Robin Park, and it included a list of the lots containing deserted or deteriorating units. They constitute life safety issues and as such must be corrected immediately. A second category must be corrected in 90 days. There were at least 15 and possibly 20 violations.
Quote: "I just want people to know that government does work once in a while as long as it works for people in need."
[Blogger: From what I can tell, the residents found the help they needed in an agency dedicated to mobile home parks, and they pursued that avenue. What they accomplished got an official action directed to the owner of the park, not the managers. The pious quote above looks like an early campaign speech to my eye. The residents learned that they do have some leverage and used it.
The trustees listened, encouraged, and advised them about avenues to pursue.]
Vic: I attended the Chamber of Commerce meeting. They are moving it around a little. They had it at the K of C hall. I reported that we had widened Mantua Center Road. Everyone liked that. Mark Russell was there, and I asked him if anyone had contacted him about the new tractor, and Brian Tayerle gave him the serial number today. Since we are using that tractor, we have to be sure it is on our inventory.
[Blogger's boldface. Clearly, Vic took care of this after learning that it had been missed.]
Vic to Jodie Thompson: Have you been attending meetings of the Budget Commission? Jack Groselle (Hiram Twp.) wants to know from the commissioners if a percentage has been allocated to the townships. The commissioners are taking 39% now and Jack is trying to get that dropped to 35% [so that the townships can get a tiny bit more of the pot allocated from the state to small governments]. This is based on population and most of the population is in the townships.
All of this is going to be gathered by Todd Bragg, and he will try to come up with a formula. This formula has been in place for over 30 years. No one knows how it was established. Instead of $2.7 million, it has dropped to $1.35 million. They are talking about phasing in the new valuation over three years.
The townships only get .79% of the whole amount of $3.7 million. Brimfield gets more because they have a police department and a Wal-Mart. I need to get back to him by tomorrow to see if we are going to stay with this. The one meeting was really a heated argument.
Jason: Every 10 years you/we go back to the Budget Commission to see how the $3.7 million gets disbursed. Everyone can agree that we are currently getting screwed. The City of Kent gets the greatest amount and of course everyone wants as much as they can get.
Jack Groselle is kind of championing this for all the trustees. I had a conversation with Janet [Esposito] who said "We would let you guys figure it out." But each category will come up with its own agreement.
But I did talk to Jack Groselle and in Geauga County, everyone gets [a certain] amount. I am for the formula that gets us and other townships a fair share.
Vic: It has been 30 years. We need a change. It looks like we will have to phase it in because no one wants to take a cut [?] that hard. At one of the first meetings I attended (years ago) we were getting $70,000 a year. But the governor is building his war chest--$8 billion, and where do you think it is coming from? It hurts. Some gets funneled into grants, but we need the money just like these other people.
Jason: But when some of these villages are getting $58,000 and Mantua Township is getting $29,000; why do villages need twice the townships' [share], even though some of the neighboring townships have twice the population.
Vic: All right. I will e-mail him tonight.
Jason inquired about Jack Groselle drafting a resolution for townships to sign.
Vic: Tallmadge is part of this [!] and they have 1,000 residents in Portage County and they want money.
[Blogger: Old Business came next and will be a separate post.]
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Trustees 9-21-17: Jay Schabel re Community Centert
[Blogger Foreword: Jay Schabel and the community center are not the only topic, but the one that is not routine township business. His name shows up about 1/3 of the way down the page as you scroll down.
[I have not given any of the usual opening details in this post, since they are "boiler plate" and I can never catch the numbers for the financial report with confidence as to my accuracy. It's a bunch of numbers and headings in rapid succession.]
Jodie Thompson announced that the Portage County Health Department had conducted waste water inspection for [I believe] the school building.
NOPEC has a litter management and scrap tire grant. A 10% match is required. [I did not note (maybe it wasn't given) the amount of the grants.]
There were some reports on correspondence regarding insurance.
Vic said that Jodie should have received an e-mail from Mayor Linda Clark, Mantua Village, regarding a conversation about JEDDs--Joint Economic Development Districts. Shalersville was also on that e-mail. It is apparently about a conversation to learn more about these ventures.
John Festa misunderstood something about this, and Vic corrected him.
Zoning: Jason announced that there is a vacancy coming up for zoning inspector. So far there has been one application. [I am not sure of the deadline and think that the ad may be run again. I have heard that Rick Pemberton picked up an application.]
Jodie passed out something more regarding zoning that John Dickey wanted the trustees to have.
There has been a dispute over a fence; what Jodie passed out may have to do with that.
Vic: It has been surveyed by both property owners. Most of it is on the owner's line. One part of the fence is blocking a door.
Vic: I recommend that fences be two feet off the property line so the owner of the fence can maintain it and the property it is on. He gave the information on all of this and, in short interpreted the zoning coder.
Vic, continuing: I would think we can hold off one more meeting before sending a letter to the prosecutor. It is a painted white fence, not chicken wire. Fence issues are tricky--the owner has contacted an attorney, but it is not necessary. It can be resolved. The survey was completed after the zoning notice was written. [Blogger: In brackets, my note says "I believe." That is my note to myself.]
Jason: While we are talking about zoning, there are two properties on St. James Drive in Aurora Meadows. Both have been looked at by the health department and fire department. Both are run down and dilapidated. Chris Meduri has a resolution and a corresponding Intent to Proceed to Remove Structure.
Continuing: Twenty days after the notice has been sent, the owners have a right to attend a meeting/hearing about it. We do not have to have a public hearing, but Chris Meduri recommends it.
Jason reported on the number of parties who had interests in the properties--a total of eight. He then read the legal document/resolution.
John Festa made a motion to adopt the resolution. Vic seconded. Passed, unanimously, by roll call vote.
The same procedure was followed for the second property, and signed the documents.
Jason announced that Jay Schabel, lead person on the task force working to develop a community center at the school building, was present and had driven from Indiana.
Jason: I asked Jay to come and talk with us about it because we need potentially to have a special meeting to talk about it in more depth.
Jay: This is a discussion document for us to understand what role each party will play in this. It is potentially a management document to have a management group to fit (?) fill(?) the community needs. This was our first stab at a structure for that.
Jason turned to Vic.
Vic: I think the best thing from our standpoint is that Chris Meduri has told me that as a board of trustees we have to figure out what we want managed. In one part of this, you asked how many square feet the township would need, for example. Some of the problems that arise is that the money needs to stay in the township budget. There are some other things that will have to be researched. I think at this point we need to all sit down with this. I think it can be a lot simpler. Maybe set it for
a one-year term and see how it works.
Jay: We are all for simplification--you determine what you want out of it, the restoration society develop their own, we develop our own.
Vic: They (Chris Meduri) are not quite sure whether this is manageable. Business and government don't always work together very well.
Jay: We are starting to see some interest in groups starting to move in. I think if we can begin by the first of the year . . . .
Vic: The elevator is getting started this week.
John Festa: I don't want anyone to become discouraged. Vic is right--it can be much simpler and then grow. As more moving parts come in, it gets more legal (?). I don't want anyone to get discouraged.
Jay: We are seeing some real good possibilities--good programs and services.
John Festa: If we can light a little fire and if you have time to meet, we are pretty much available most of the time.
Jay: For me, Mondays and Fridays are probably best.
Jason: A special meeting would be best. We need some direction in that meeting. What do we want at the end of the meeting? We probably ought to get some parameters. At the end, arewe going to have another document, or at the end just have a dialogue.
Jay: I do have a goal of having the lawyers participating and have a diagram of how things would flow, all the business processes and then preferably the lawyers go away and we decide whether we start with a new document or work with this one.
Jason: You are recommending that the lawyers be at the meeting.
Jay: I would rather have them there to recommend what the specifics should be. If you want I can send a template of what we would like to accomplish and you guiys can do something similar and get all of our needs on the table.
Jason: You mentioned Monday and Friday. We are fairly flexible. The problem with that is that lawyers are usually 8-4. I don't know about your attorney. It seems like we would have to meet [around] 2-3p.m.
Jay: Do you want to set a couple of target dates?
October 3 (a Tuesday) ended up sounding like a good day, at 2:30.
Jay: That would give us time to get our thoughts together.
Jason: Why not look at another target day just in case. The next [available Monday] is October 16 at 2:30.
Continuing: We will shoot for those for the special meeting. We can meet here--it is more comfortable with construction going on [at the school building]. [Jason checked with the other two trustees.]
John Festa: The third probably works well for us, so would you send an e-mail to everyone?
[Blogger: I am not sure whom he was addressing here.]
Jason: We will have to see if Chris Meduri can make it. Vic will set that up. [There was also a comment about needing 24 hours advance notice to do this correctly.]
To the other trustees: We need to look at this and what we want managed and how the funding will work if you have a public and private group even if it is non profit. It would be good if we could get these questions to Chris Meduri early.
Vic: Both proposals are at Chris Meduri's office. [Blogger: Vic had made sure of that.]
[I have not given any of the usual opening details in this post, since they are "boiler plate" and I can never catch the numbers for the financial report with confidence as to my accuracy. It's a bunch of numbers and headings in rapid succession.]
Jodie Thompson announced that the Portage County Health Department had conducted waste water inspection for [I believe] the school building.
NOPEC has a litter management and scrap tire grant. A 10% match is required. [I did not note (maybe it wasn't given) the amount of the grants.]
There were some reports on correspondence regarding insurance.
Vic said that Jodie should have received an e-mail from Mayor Linda Clark, Mantua Village, regarding a conversation about JEDDs--Joint Economic Development Districts. Shalersville was also on that e-mail. It is apparently about a conversation to learn more about these ventures.
John Festa misunderstood something about this, and Vic corrected him.
Zoning: Jason announced that there is a vacancy coming up for zoning inspector. So far there has been one application. [I am not sure of the deadline and think that the ad may be run again. I have heard that Rick Pemberton picked up an application.]
Jodie passed out something more regarding zoning that John Dickey wanted the trustees to have.
There has been a dispute over a fence; what Jodie passed out may have to do with that.
Vic: It has been surveyed by both property owners. Most of it is on the owner's line. One part of the fence is blocking a door.
Vic: I recommend that fences be two feet off the property line so the owner of the fence can maintain it and the property it is on. He gave the information on all of this and, in short interpreted the zoning coder.
Vic, continuing: I would think we can hold off one more meeting before sending a letter to the prosecutor. It is a painted white fence, not chicken wire. Fence issues are tricky--the owner has contacted an attorney, but it is not necessary. It can be resolved. The survey was completed after the zoning notice was written. [Blogger: In brackets, my note says "I believe." That is my note to myself.]
Jason: While we are talking about zoning, there are two properties on St. James Drive in Aurora Meadows. Both have been looked at by the health department and fire department. Both are run down and dilapidated. Chris Meduri has a resolution and a corresponding Intent to Proceed to Remove Structure.
Continuing: Twenty days after the notice has been sent, the owners have a right to attend a meeting/hearing about it. We do not have to have a public hearing, but Chris Meduri recommends it.
Jason reported on the number of parties who had interests in the properties--a total of eight. He then read the legal document/resolution.
John Festa made a motion to adopt the resolution. Vic seconded. Passed, unanimously, by roll call vote.
The same procedure was followed for the second property, and signed the documents.
Jason announced that Jay Schabel, lead person on the task force working to develop a community center at the school building, was present and had driven from Indiana.
Jason: I asked Jay to come and talk with us about it because we need potentially to have a special meeting to talk about it in more depth.
Jay: This is a discussion document for us to understand what role each party will play in this. It is potentially a management document to have a management group to fit (?) fill(?) the community needs. This was our first stab at a structure for that.
Jason turned to Vic.
Vic: I think the best thing from our standpoint is that Chris Meduri has told me that as a board of trustees we have to figure out what we want managed. In one part of this, you asked how many square feet the township would need, for example. Some of the problems that arise is that the money needs to stay in the township budget. There are some other things that will have to be researched. I think at this point we need to all sit down with this. I think it can be a lot simpler. Maybe set it for
a one-year term and see how it works.
Jay: We are all for simplification--you determine what you want out of it, the restoration society develop their own, we develop our own.
Vic: They (Chris Meduri) are not quite sure whether this is manageable. Business and government don't always work together very well.
Jay: We are starting to see some interest in groups starting to move in. I think if we can begin by the first of the year . . . .
Vic: The elevator is getting started this week.
John Festa: I don't want anyone to become discouraged. Vic is right--it can be much simpler and then grow. As more moving parts come in, it gets more legal (?). I don't want anyone to get discouraged.
Jay: We are seeing some real good possibilities--good programs and services.
John Festa: If we can light a little fire and if you have time to meet, we are pretty much available most of the time.
Jay: For me, Mondays and Fridays are probably best.
Jason: A special meeting would be best. We need some direction in that meeting. What do we want at the end of the meeting? We probably ought to get some parameters. At the end, arewe going to have another document, or at the end just have a dialogue.
Jay: I do have a goal of having the lawyers participating and have a diagram of how things would flow, all the business processes and then preferably the lawyers go away and we decide whether we start with a new document or work with this one.
Jason: You are recommending that the lawyers be at the meeting.
Jay: I would rather have them there to recommend what the specifics should be. If you want I can send a template of what we would like to accomplish and you guiys can do something similar and get all of our needs on the table.
Jason: You mentioned Monday and Friday. We are fairly flexible. The problem with that is that lawyers are usually 8-4. I don't know about your attorney. It seems like we would have to meet [around] 2-3p.m.
Jay: Do you want to set a couple of target dates?
October 3 (a Tuesday) ended up sounding like a good day, at 2:30.
Jay: That would give us time to get our thoughts together.
Jason: Why not look at another target day just in case. The next [available Monday] is October 16 at 2:30.
Continuing: We will shoot for those for the special meeting. We can meet here--it is more comfortable with construction going on [at the school building]. [Jason checked with the other two trustees.]
John Festa: The third probably works well for us, so would you send an e-mail to everyone?
[Blogger: I am not sure whom he was addressing here.]
Jason: We will have to see if Chris Meduri can make it. Vic will set that up. [There was also a comment about needing 24 hours advance notice to do this correctly.]
To the other trustees: We need to look at this and what we want managed and how the funding will work if you have a public and private group even if it is non profit. It would be good if we could get these questions to Chris Meduri early.
Vic: Both proposals are at Chris Meduri's office. [Blogger: Vic had made sure of that.]
Friday, September 15, 2017
Tally of Accomplishments, 9-7-17 Trustees
Jason:
Had not yet contacted Chris Meduri about the paperwork for the two Aurora Meadows properties that are in the Land Bank/Blighted Properties program. (Had mentioned this as a to-do at the 8-17 meeting.)
Made a motion to pay bill for striping, school zone painting on freshly chip and sealed roads. [I think that is correct about which roads were striped.]
John Festa:
Made a draft copy of driver policy for insurance for the trustees to review.
Reported on status of a health insurance program in conjunction with the Mantua Shalersville Fire Department.
Wants for agreement about the Community Center at the school building to move forward.
Vic:
Monitoring and advising Beautification Committee about the bullpen, especially the location and design of the proposed rail fence for road safety.
Advised running an ad for new zoning inspector.
Requested setting aside money for asphalt.
Requested setting aside money for road salt.
Found an asphalt roller with a vibratory feature at a good price; made motion to buy it.
Checked fence behind the township garage; recommended repairs and gave a price.
Will find a date for a meeting with the task force about the community center.
Had not yet contacted Chris Meduri about the paperwork for the two Aurora Meadows properties that are in the Land Bank/Blighted Properties program. (Had mentioned this as a to-do at the 8-17 meeting.)
Made a motion to pay bill for striping, school zone painting on freshly chip and sealed roads. [I think that is correct about which roads were striped.]
John Festa:
Made a draft copy of driver policy for insurance for the trustees to review.
Reported on status of a health insurance program in conjunction with the Mantua Shalersville Fire Department.
Wants for agreement about the Community Center at the school building to move forward.
Vic:
Monitoring and advising Beautification Committee about the bullpen, especially the location and design of the proposed rail fence for road safety.
Advised running an ad for new zoning inspector.
Requested setting aside money for asphalt.
Requested setting aside money for road salt.
Found an asphalt roller with a vibratory feature at a good price; made motion to buy it.
Checked fence behind the township garage; recommended repairs and gave a price.
Will find a date for a meeting with the task force about the community center.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Public Comment 9-17: Intersection Center & 82; Robin Park, other bin Park
Blogger: Before launching into this post, I want to thank the readers who hang in there through my typos. I had reason to review a bunch of posts earlier today and was chagrined to find a bunch of typing blunders. I think I catch the errors as I go, but by the time a post is done, I am really done and am not interested in re-reading it on the spot. So all of you thread your way through the weeds, sort of, and I appreciate it. This expression of gratitude is no guarantee that the proofreading will be any better, however.
OK, here we go.
Public Comment began at 8:00 p.m.
Amy Janca, no comment.
Brenda Wieclaw, no comment. She asked if Jason could come back to her, and he said that he was just going down the list.
Carole Pollard, 5359 Allyn Road. The big question is for Vic: anything about the elevator?
Vic: They did come out and put a new board on the fascia and the metal roof is on the entrance. I don't think they have done more. I have not heard anything from the elevator company. I was supposed to meet with Ken Parker tonight, but that did not work out. They did move some of the air lines for the elevator. They have done a little. I have not heard anything from the elevator company.
CP: I just want to keep tabs on that so we can do a blitz to get a party ready.
Vic: The main structure for the block structure is done.
CP: It looks nice.
Jason said something about the cleaning.
CP: Before we have a party in there, we have to swab the decks really good. This is a volunteer opportunity.
Jason: Any construction company will clean up after they're done.
CP: I just hope their record on that is better than on some of the other things.
Vic: The American Legion had a supper in there on Friday. There is something in there this Saturday. I have held off on things until the 23rd. I have been pushing things to the Civic Center.
CP: Dave and I both have a concern about the intersection. I want to ask you if the trustees have gotten closer to writing a letter to ODOT. Joe DeFuria has said that the trustees will have to write a letter. I don't know that it has to be any more burdensome than any other letter you have written, but it would get us in the pipeline. They will be here in 2019 anyhow. That was my part of Dave's and my concern.
Jason: Carole, along that note, Joe DeFuria did get back to me a while back and they had reviewed the statistics. That is unfortunately how they make all their decisions. [I lost a phrase or half sentence because someone coughed.]
CP: Dave and I have both talked with him and have ragged you guys a lot and you have talked with him and he has cited statistics, but there is our experience, too. If a letter at this point would help nudge him a little more, that would be good. It can't hurt. If the program is laid out, they aren't going to stop.
Dave and I talked about if it would help to have letters to the trustees to support your request; this would be right in line with your [Jason's] interest in the roads. That's it.
I will probably pester you some more about it. Even careful drivers get caught there. Jan Oros still doesn't know how she got hit there.
[Blogger: First, Jason was not specific about when he talked with Mr. DeFuria; the last time I remember that there were conversations was quite some time ago, when the final result of several months of discussion was the Look Again sign added to the stop sign on the north side of 82.
Second, I heard Jason's comment about the statistics as a statement that he was done with it: the authority had spoken and Jason was not going to do any more about it.]
The next in public comment were two of the Robin Park residents. Their comments were lengthy, and I am not going to detail them for this reason: Although they live in Mantua Township, the park is an entity unto itself, over which the township has no jurisdiction. I will, however, summarize.
One thing that came out is that the residents are willing to come to the trustees meetings and state their plight, but they have apparently gone past the point of being willing to talk with Brenda Wieclaw, who manages Robin Park.
John Festa has been solicitous of them, so they seem to be comforted by that. He contacted the health department (water quality is a major problem for the residents, and they brought stained laundry as a proof of that), but he stated clearly that the trustees have no jurisdiction.
There was a lot more. They may or may not be getting charged for recycling.
Brenda stated that the recycling is not being taken away. Apparently there is a problem with residents getting their recycling and waste of various kinds to the bins.
John Festa made many sympathetic sounding remarks.
Jason made a comment about road maintenance (the roads inside the park property are apparently pretty bad).
Things finally came to an end on this topic, with John Festa saying that he wouldn't give up on this [despite having no jurisdiction. Is he going to pay more attention to a futile venture than he does to his duties as a trustee? But it's never too soon to start thinking about re-election. There are voters in Robin Park.]
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: This intersection is a definite safety issue and being that the state claims they own the intersections and 200 feet on either side, since they are going to raise the road in Streetsboro where it is prone to flooding while they are there doing something else, talk to him. It gives us a precedent to ask them to modify the road here. Not to send a petition, but to get signatures and then through the governor and Senator Eklund to deal with the problem once and for all.
We don't want a traffic light, which would damage the rural character. If the state is responsible for 200 feet on either side, if they brought it up to the level that the road next to the green is, that would alleviate the visibility problem coming from the east.
Jason, I said before if you and your wife were out, take the time to stop there and both get out of the car and look at how that changes the visibility.
We would be willing to circulate letters of support for the trustees. I know, Jason, your concern is for the roads, and Mr. Festa has said safety is his first concern. We are willing to do this. That will still leave three bad intersections with state highways in the township.
[Blogger: There was essentially no response to Dave's remarks, and the suggestion that Jason and his wife actually do field research on this, rather than just look at statistics, fell on completely deaf ears. But consider this: Jason talks about the roads and their importance, and John Festa verbally would seem to be bucking for the title of "Mr. Safety." People demonstrate what really matters to them by what they do.]
Joe Marchesi: [Note: Joe went to school at Crestwood; he and Dave and I all rode the same school bus. Joe no longer lives here, but he does own property in the township, and he had some interesting information.]
The bridge on Center Road is closed so I have to go around all over the place. I talked to the engineer who is in charge of roads and bridges. I have been hearing all kinds of rumors about this and I asked him what is going on. He said that they have to get the money first. I told him that I had already called Congressman Joyce, and they said it would cost $180,000 to $300,000 to get the bridge where it should be. I called Joyce's office and they will try to come up with a grant so the bridge can be fixed next summer. Two to three years (the original statement) means to me it will never get done. You may not know this, but next summer they will churn up Chamberlin Road and will be repaving it completely, not patching it.
John Festa: That sounds like good news.
Joe: I thought so, too. That is the good news.
Sue Lilley then spoke directly to Joe, despite not having signed in to speak: Why is it so important to get the bridge fixed?
[She objected to having a lot of traffic on a road with 8-foot ditches.]
Joe and Sue were on the way into an argument with each other, but Jason squelched that.
Vic: I have gotten a lot of calls about traffic on Winchell now. They would like to have signs put up. They have noticed a big increase in their traffic. I have a call in to Doug at the county. There are some trees that will be hurt more by the truck mirrors now that it [Center] has been widened. It has been phone tag all day today. We are seeing what we can do.
Joe: I thought, Why not call the county.
Vic: Even if you have an established detour, 90% will find another way.
That was the end of public comment.
[Blogger: I will do a separate post about the actions taken by each trustee during the meeting and outside of it.]
OK, here we go.
Public Comment began at 8:00 p.m.
Amy Janca, no comment.
Brenda Wieclaw, no comment. She asked if Jason could come back to her, and he said that he was just going down the list.
Carole Pollard, 5359 Allyn Road. The big question is for Vic: anything about the elevator?
Vic: They did come out and put a new board on the fascia and the metal roof is on the entrance. I don't think they have done more. I have not heard anything from the elevator company. I was supposed to meet with Ken Parker tonight, but that did not work out. They did move some of the air lines for the elevator. They have done a little. I have not heard anything from the elevator company.
CP: I just want to keep tabs on that so we can do a blitz to get a party ready.
Vic: The main structure for the block structure is done.
CP: It looks nice.
Jason said something about the cleaning.
CP: Before we have a party in there, we have to swab the decks really good. This is a volunteer opportunity.
Jason: Any construction company will clean up after they're done.
CP: I just hope their record on that is better than on some of the other things.
Vic: The American Legion had a supper in there on Friday. There is something in there this Saturday. I have held off on things until the 23rd. I have been pushing things to the Civic Center.
CP: Dave and I both have a concern about the intersection. I want to ask you if the trustees have gotten closer to writing a letter to ODOT. Joe DeFuria has said that the trustees will have to write a letter. I don't know that it has to be any more burdensome than any other letter you have written, but it would get us in the pipeline. They will be here in 2019 anyhow. That was my part of Dave's and my concern.
Jason: Carole, along that note, Joe DeFuria did get back to me a while back and they had reviewed the statistics. That is unfortunately how they make all their decisions. [I lost a phrase or half sentence because someone coughed.]
CP: Dave and I have both talked with him and have ragged you guys a lot and you have talked with him and he has cited statistics, but there is our experience, too. If a letter at this point would help nudge him a little more, that would be good. It can't hurt. If the program is laid out, they aren't going to stop.
Dave and I talked about if it would help to have letters to the trustees to support your request; this would be right in line with your [Jason's] interest in the roads. That's it.
I will probably pester you some more about it. Even careful drivers get caught there. Jan Oros still doesn't know how she got hit there.
[Blogger: First, Jason was not specific about when he talked with Mr. DeFuria; the last time I remember that there were conversations was quite some time ago, when the final result of several months of discussion was the Look Again sign added to the stop sign on the north side of 82.
Second, I heard Jason's comment about the statistics as a statement that he was done with it: the authority had spoken and Jason was not going to do any more about it.]
The next in public comment were two of the Robin Park residents. Their comments were lengthy, and I am not going to detail them for this reason: Although they live in Mantua Township, the park is an entity unto itself, over which the township has no jurisdiction. I will, however, summarize.
One thing that came out is that the residents are willing to come to the trustees meetings and state their plight, but they have apparently gone past the point of being willing to talk with Brenda Wieclaw, who manages Robin Park.
John Festa has been solicitous of them, so they seem to be comforted by that. He contacted the health department (water quality is a major problem for the residents, and they brought stained laundry as a proof of that), but he stated clearly that the trustees have no jurisdiction.
There was a lot more. They may or may not be getting charged for recycling.
Brenda stated that the recycling is not being taken away. Apparently there is a problem with residents getting their recycling and waste of various kinds to the bins.
John Festa made many sympathetic sounding remarks.
Jason made a comment about road maintenance (the roads inside the park property are apparently pretty bad).
Things finally came to an end on this topic, with John Festa saying that he wouldn't give up on this [despite having no jurisdiction. Is he going to pay more attention to a futile venture than he does to his duties as a trustee? But it's never too soon to start thinking about re-election. There are voters in Robin Park.]
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: This intersection is a definite safety issue and being that the state claims they own the intersections and 200 feet on either side, since they are going to raise the road in Streetsboro where it is prone to flooding while they are there doing something else, talk to him. It gives us a precedent to ask them to modify the road here. Not to send a petition, but to get signatures and then through the governor and Senator Eklund to deal with the problem once and for all.
We don't want a traffic light, which would damage the rural character. If the state is responsible for 200 feet on either side, if they brought it up to the level that the road next to the green is, that would alleviate the visibility problem coming from the east.
Jason, I said before if you and your wife were out, take the time to stop there and both get out of the car and look at how that changes the visibility.
We would be willing to circulate letters of support for the trustees. I know, Jason, your concern is for the roads, and Mr. Festa has said safety is his first concern. We are willing to do this. That will still leave three bad intersections with state highways in the township.
[Blogger: There was essentially no response to Dave's remarks, and the suggestion that Jason and his wife actually do field research on this, rather than just look at statistics, fell on completely deaf ears. But consider this: Jason talks about the roads and their importance, and John Festa verbally would seem to be bucking for the title of "Mr. Safety." People demonstrate what really matters to them by what they do.]
Joe Marchesi: [Note: Joe went to school at Crestwood; he and Dave and I all rode the same school bus. Joe no longer lives here, but he does own property in the township, and he had some interesting information.]
The bridge on Center Road is closed so I have to go around all over the place. I talked to the engineer who is in charge of roads and bridges. I have been hearing all kinds of rumors about this and I asked him what is going on. He said that they have to get the money first. I told him that I had already called Congressman Joyce, and they said it would cost $180,000 to $300,000 to get the bridge where it should be. I called Joyce's office and they will try to come up with a grant so the bridge can be fixed next summer. Two to three years (the original statement) means to me it will never get done. You may not know this, but next summer they will churn up Chamberlin Road and will be repaving it completely, not patching it.
John Festa: That sounds like good news.
Joe: I thought so, too. That is the good news.
Sue Lilley then spoke directly to Joe, despite not having signed in to speak: Why is it so important to get the bridge fixed?
[She objected to having a lot of traffic on a road with 8-foot ditches.]
Joe and Sue were on the way into an argument with each other, but Jason squelched that.
Vic: I have gotten a lot of calls about traffic on Winchell now. They would like to have signs put up. They have noticed a big increase in their traffic. I have a call in to Doug at the county. There are some trees that will be hurt more by the truck mirrors now that it [Center] has been widened. It has been phone tag all day today. We are seeing what we can do.
Joe: I thought, Why not call the county.
Vic: Even if you have an established detour, 90% will find another way.
That was the end of public comment.
[Blogger: I will do a separate post about the actions taken by each trustee during the meeting and outside of it.]
Monday, September 11, 2017
Trustees 9-7-17; The School as Community Center
[Blogger Foreword: The last section of this post deals mainly with the task force that is working to develop a management agreement with the trustees in order to have the school building become a bona fide community center. The trustees are going to request a special meeting with the task force to discuss the details. That will be a public meeting, open to all. There may not be any participation by people other than task force members and trustees, but the public can attend.
[In my opinion, in light of the hidden but still festering agenda against the school, it is important for people to get their information first hand, not filtered through or distorted by anyone else's perspective, including mine.]
And now for the meeting.
After the usual preliminary matters, during which your faithful blogger missed the subject of some paperwork that Vic had to fill out, Jason commented that he still has to follow up with Chris Meduri about how to fill out the notices to home owners in Aurora Meadows under the Land Bank program.
Jim Aldrich gave the cemetery report, which totaled $2235.60.
Beautification Committee: Two burning bushes and a weeping cherry were moved to the mound between the house and the bullpen. About a truckload of rocks was removed. They are working to put the fence up next week and will see . . . after the fence has been installed. Jim said they had received a lot of compliments.
Vic: Is the fence going to run down Center and Diagonal? Are you giong to stay about ten feet off Diagonal Road and then [have] a return on it?
The answer to those questions was yes.
Amy Janca: We are leaving most of the access road wide open so any kind of vehicle can get in.
Vic: When they begin mowing, they have to be able to get in. About seeding: We have some seed and will have to be doing some at the school, and our guys can do that. It is the same seed as we are using at the cemetery.
[There was a motion, which I missed. Jason seconded, and it passed. I believe it had to do with having the road crew do the work Vic had described.]
New Business, Trustee Reports, Announcements
Jason: The County received the request for striping. The total cost will be $1,114.24. It includes the School Zone markings.
Jason gave details on the labor, machinery, and materials and made a motion to pay the amount. Vic seconded. Passed.
Jason announced having received an e-mail from John Dickey stating that he is moving to Florida and selling his house. Jason thought the effective date for John's resignation/leaving was October 1; John Festa said it was November 1 and added that the house had sold.
[Blogger: And this week, we might well ponder on where in Florida the new house is.]
Vic mentioned running an add for the position of zoning inspector. The same ad that Marie Stehli ran for the position will do. [Jodie apparently has that on her computer.]
Jason to Vic: Since Vic represents us at Regional Planning, maybe he can mention the zoning inspector [position] there.
Vic: I did mention it to Chris Meduri in case we need someone.
That wrapped up new business.
John Festa: The MSFD decided to extend the health insurance and there is still a chance for us to apply with a bigger group if the trustees are still interested. That may be better for us.
Vic: It's worth applying.
John Festa then continued about the driver policy: I made a draft copy for everyone and maybe we can discuss it at the next meeting.
Vic: Old business-- I have some information from the garage.
To Jodie Thompson: Regarding the garage--they will need about $25,000 for asphalt for Mantua Center road. We do not have a solid figure yet for the labor. We should probably set aside some extra money.
Jason: [Someone] mentioned to me about $1,000/day.
Vic to Jodie: Can you set aside another $5,000 for contracts? We need to set aside another purchase order for road salt. You can set that up so it will carry over to the next year. Why don't you set aside another $5,000? I want to bring in no more than 75 tons [of salt]. That will fulfill our commitment and then we can start on the new price, with Cargill. Right now it is $51.47. The new price will be about $45/ton. September 10 is the changeover for the commitment.
Vic, continuing: The other thing that has come available is another piece of equipment--a small 1-1/2 ton asphalt roller. It would cost $2500 and is in good shape. They are putting new bushings into it. It is Todd [Lamb's] equipment. I would like to consider buying that. On the Internet they go for quite a bit more than that. We can take a look at ours and see if any of the surrounding townships that have been borrowing it might want to buy it. I would like to set aside $2500-$2600 for it.
Jason asked for a motion, which Vic made: to purchase a 1-1/2 ton vibratory roller from Todd Lamb. It was seconded and approved.
Vic: There is nothing wrong with the one we have, but it does not have the vibratory compaction.
Continuing: We have been looking at our fence behind the garage. It would cost us about $600 to put up new panels. I was thinking about setting aside some money for that.
Jason looked at the budget sheet. In addition to what he looked at, Vic mentioned Road and Bridge and Improvement of Sites.
Vic: There are 14 panels. The posts are good. We might have to buy some 2 x 4's.
Vic made a motion to set aside $700 for new fence panels behind the township garage.
That concluded Vic's portion of old business.
John Festa: A couple of e-mails that went back and forth with Chris Meduri from the task force. I would like to get together with these folks. Would we be OK with having a special meeting? Let's hammer this out. I want everyone to get together on this. We are not miles apart on this. I don't want to discourage anyone.
Vic: I think we should have a special meeting. I will take a look at the schedule.
Jason: If you want to look at a couple of dates. . . . I had a discussion with Jay Schabel last Friday. We discussed our views. Some things are foggy about finances. The other is about control. How much do we have to relinquish to have a proper agreement? Chris Meduri's e-mail to us is not public record. Jay Schabel had wanted to come to the next meeting.
John Festa: I would like to see this the sooner the better.
Jason commented to Vic about finding a meeting date.
John Festa: Old Business: The Civic Center stairs and wall came out very nice and I wanted to get a cost on painting those handrails now that the steps are new. I will try to get a price on that.
Vic: Vic mentioned a new type of Rustoleum paint that binds very well and dries in 5 minutes.
That ended the business meeting. Public comment was next and will be a separate post.
[In my opinion, in light of the hidden but still festering agenda against the school, it is important for people to get their information first hand, not filtered through or distorted by anyone else's perspective, including mine.]
And now for the meeting.
After the usual preliminary matters, during which your faithful blogger missed the subject of some paperwork that Vic had to fill out, Jason commented that he still has to follow up with Chris Meduri about how to fill out the notices to home owners in Aurora Meadows under the Land Bank program.
Jim Aldrich gave the cemetery report, which totaled $2235.60.
Beautification Committee: Two burning bushes and a weeping cherry were moved to the mound between the house and the bullpen. About a truckload of rocks was removed. They are working to put the fence up next week and will see . . . after the fence has been installed. Jim said they had received a lot of compliments.
Vic: Is the fence going to run down Center and Diagonal? Are you giong to stay about ten feet off Diagonal Road and then [have] a return on it?
The answer to those questions was yes.
Amy Janca: We are leaving most of the access road wide open so any kind of vehicle can get in.
Vic: When they begin mowing, they have to be able to get in. About seeding: We have some seed and will have to be doing some at the school, and our guys can do that. It is the same seed as we are using at the cemetery.
[There was a motion, which I missed. Jason seconded, and it passed. I believe it had to do with having the road crew do the work Vic had described.]
New Business, Trustee Reports, Announcements
Jason: The County received the request for striping. The total cost will be $1,114.24. It includes the School Zone markings.
Jason gave details on the labor, machinery, and materials and made a motion to pay the amount. Vic seconded. Passed.
Jason announced having received an e-mail from John Dickey stating that he is moving to Florida and selling his house. Jason thought the effective date for John's resignation/leaving was October 1; John Festa said it was November 1 and added that the house had sold.
[Blogger: And this week, we might well ponder on where in Florida the new house is.]
Vic mentioned running an add for the position of zoning inspector. The same ad that Marie Stehli ran for the position will do. [Jodie apparently has that on her computer.]
Jason to Vic: Since Vic represents us at Regional Planning, maybe he can mention the zoning inspector [position] there.
Vic: I did mention it to Chris Meduri in case we need someone.
That wrapped up new business.
John Festa: The MSFD decided to extend the health insurance and there is still a chance for us to apply with a bigger group if the trustees are still interested. That may be better for us.
Vic: It's worth applying.
John Festa then continued about the driver policy: I made a draft copy for everyone and maybe we can discuss it at the next meeting.
Vic: Old business-- I have some information from the garage.
To Jodie Thompson: Regarding the garage--they will need about $25,000 for asphalt for Mantua Center road. We do not have a solid figure yet for the labor. We should probably set aside some extra money.
Jason: [Someone] mentioned to me about $1,000/day.
Vic to Jodie: Can you set aside another $5,000 for contracts? We need to set aside another purchase order for road salt. You can set that up so it will carry over to the next year. Why don't you set aside another $5,000? I want to bring in no more than 75 tons [of salt]. That will fulfill our commitment and then we can start on the new price, with Cargill. Right now it is $51.47. The new price will be about $45/ton. September 10 is the changeover for the commitment.
Vic, continuing: The other thing that has come available is another piece of equipment--a small 1-1/2 ton asphalt roller. It would cost $2500 and is in good shape. They are putting new bushings into it. It is Todd [Lamb's] equipment. I would like to consider buying that. On the Internet they go for quite a bit more than that. We can take a look at ours and see if any of the surrounding townships that have been borrowing it might want to buy it. I would like to set aside $2500-$2600 for it.
Jason asked for a motion, which Vic made: to purchase a 1-1/2 ton vibratory roller from Todd Lamb. It was seconded and approved.
Vic: There is nothing wrong with the one we have, but it does not have the vibratory compaction.
Continuing: We have been looking at our fence behind the garage. It would cost us about $600 to put up new panels. I was thinking about setting aside some money for that.
Jason looked at the budget sheet. In addition to what he looked at, Vic mentioned Road and Bridge and Improvement of Sites.
Vic: There are 14 panels. The posts are good. We might have to buy some 2 x 4's.
Vic made a motion to set aside $700 for new fence panels behind the township garage.
That concluded Vic's portion of old business.
John Festa: A couple of e-mails that went back and forth with Chris Meduri from the task force. I would like to get together with these folks. Would we be OK with having a special meeting? Let's hammer this out. I want everyone to get together on this. We are not miles apart on this. I don't want to discourage anyone.
Vic: I think we should have a special meeting. I will take a look at the schedule.
Jason: If you want to look at a couple of dates. . . . I had a discussion with Jay Schabel last Friday. We discussed our views. Some things are foggy about finances. The other is about control. How much do we have to relinquish to have a proper agreement? Chris Meduri's e-mail to us is not public record. Jay Schabel had wanted to come to the next meeting.
John Festa: I would like to see this the sooner the better.
Jason commented to Vic about finding a meeting date.
John Festa: Old Business: The Civic Center stairs and wall came out very nice and I wanted to get a cost on painting those handrails now that the steps are new. I will try to get a price on that.
Vic: Vic mentioned a new type of Rustoleum paint that binds very well and dries in 5 minutes.
That ended the business meeting. Public comment was next and will be a separate post.
Friday, September 8, 2017
Job Opportunity
At the 9-7-17 Trustees meeting, it was announced that John Dickey has sold his house and will be moving to Florida, where he has purchased a house.
There was some uncertainty about whether he would leave by November 1 or October 1.
Be that as it may, the township will need a zoning inspector. Look in the legal section of the Sunday Record Courier for the specifics.
Unfortunately, too often, from what I have heard, people who apply to be zoning inspectors think that their job is to exert force on people to make them live up the the inspector's opinion of how they should do things. Certainly one could make that conclusion, based on the number of court actions or at least legal discussions the township is in now regarding zoning issues.
At the last trustees meeting, I spoke about the difference between enforcement and compliance and tried to make a small case for working for compliance, rather than to make people feel bullied.
The last several years have convinced me that at least one and perhaps two of the trustees favor enforcement rather than compliance.
I seriously doubt that the official advertisement will contain any mention of an ability to work well with people. However, from my point of view, that would be desirable and a welcome change.
Oh, yes--ability to read the zoning book accurately and apply it as written without cherry-picking would seem like a prerequisite. That, too, would be a welcome change.
So, disgruntled remarks aside, the zoning inspector's job gets a person to everywhere and potentially everyone in the township, which means that the ZI has the opportunity to foster or damage good relationships and to build or destroy good will. Good will in these times looks like a worthy goal.
Check the paper for the official specifics.
There was some uncertainty about whether he would leave by November 1 or October 1.
Be that as it may, the township will need a zoning inspector. Look in the legal section of the Sunday Record Courier for the specifics.
Unfortunately, too often, from what I have heard, people who apply to be zoning inspectors think that their job is to exert force on people to make them live up the the inspector's opinion of how they should do things. Certainly one could make that conclusion, based on the number of court actions or at least legal discussions the township is in now regarding zoning issues.
At the last trustees meeting, I spoke about the difference between enforcement and compliance and tried to make a small case for working for compliance, rather than to make people feel bullied.
The last several years have convinced me that at least one and perhaps two of the trustees favor enforcement rather than compliance.
I seriously doubt that the official advertisement will contain any mention of an ability to work well with people. However, from my point of view, that would be desirable and a welcome change.
Oh, yes--ability to read the zoning book accurately and apply it as written without cherry-picking would seem like a prerequisite. That, too, would be a welcome change.
So, disgruntled remarks aside, the zoning inspector's job gets a person to everywhere and potentially everyone in the township, which means that the ZI has the opportunity to foster or damage good relationships and to build or destroy good will. Good will in these times looks like a worthy goal.
Check the paper for the official specifics.
Sunday, September 3, 2017
Work horse vs. show horses
[Blogger Foreword: This post lists who did what at the 8-17-17 trustees meeting. I will probably do that for each meeting between now and early November. I hope that faithful blog readers will pass on the information to their friends.]
Jason
About road levy: thought it may be close to renewal; did not remember details.
Handled paperwork relative to Land Bank and two Aurora Meadows properties.
Suggested bidding $1,000 less than the amount Vic had suggested for a new (used) mower. Accepted.
Resisted being particularly helpful about snow removal at the bullpen, access drive, and private drive there.
Reported on having talked with Mr. Goggin (School Lane) and straightening out the ownership of the lane, which had been an issue.
Passed out the draft agreement submitted by Jay Schabel on behalf of the task force developing the school building into a community center.
John Festa
Commented on teaming up with Shalersville for MSFD fire insurance.
Asked why there was no photo of the veterans memorial on [last year's] fair board.
Asked about getting the township's logo in a format that would permit making decals for the truck.
Resistant to helping out in clearing snow at the bullpen.
Vic
Finances: Kept tabs on the grant money through Senator Eklund's office.
Finances: Reviewed for Jodie Thompson the apportionment of grant payments for electrical work relative to the elevator.
Drove to Madison with the road crew to inspect, test, and evaluate a new (used) mower.
Made motion to purchase mower after suggesting an amount to bid.
Committed to deliver the bid in person.
Handled the agreement (for review) about access to the house at the bullpen with Mrs. Taylor's attorney.
Worked out verbal agreement with Mr. Keller about his property line at the school.
Reported on followup about survey on School Lane; will follow up on the bus shelter.
Will begin the paperwork to review the electrical usage of the township's buildings with an eye to possibly installing LED lighting as an economy.
Jason
About road levy: thought it may be close to renewal; did not remember details.
Handled paperwork relative to Land Bank and two Aurora Meadows properties.
Suggested bidding $1,000 less than the amount Vic had suggested for a new (used) mower. Accepted.
Resisted being particularly helpful about snow removal at the bullpen, access drive, and private drive there.
Reported on having talked with Mr. Goggin (School Lane) and straightening out the ownership of the lane, which had been an issue.
Passed out the draft agreement submitted by Jay Schabel on behalf of the task force developing the school building into a community center.
John Festa
Commented on teaming up with Shalersville for MSFD fire insurance.
Asked why there was no photo of the veterans memorial on [last year's] fair board.
Asked about getting the township's logo in a format that would permit making decals for the truck.
Resistant to helping out in clearing snow at the bullpen.
Vic
Finances: Kept tabs on the grant money through Senator Eklund's office.
Finances: Reviewed for Jodie Thompson the apportionment of grant payments for electrical work relative to the elevator.
Drove to Madison with the road crew to inspect, test, and evaluate a new (used) mower.
Made motion to purchase mower after suggesting an amount to bid.
Committed to deliver the bid in person.
Handled the agreement (for review) about access to the house at the bullpen with Mrs. Taylor's attorney.
Worked out verbal agreement with Mr. Keller about his property line at the school.
Reported on followup about survey on School Lane; will follow up on the bus shelter.
Will begin the paperwork to review the electrical usage of the township's buildings with an eye to possibly installing LED lighting as an economy.
Saturday, September 2, 2017
Trustees 8-17-17: Public Comment, Amy Janca & Vic re bull pen
[Blogger Foreword: My apologies for all of the typos at the end of the previous post; apparently I was out of time or energy and didn't realize how many slips there were. I fixed them, and now will proceed to make more with this new post.]
Public Comment
Amy Janca: Amy thanked everyone again for work on the bullpen.
Jim Aldrich is hopeful that we can have things in good shape for the Labor Day weekend. He hjopes to have it ready to be presented.
Vic: About where the maple tree was--the grindings. I would like to get that out of there and maybe plant two trees there, further back from where the maple was, a couple of nice sized trees.
Amy: We will consider it. [Blogger: The last I knew, the trustees owned the bullpen and had jurisdiction over what gets planted there.]
Amy, continuing: This is opened up now, and [we would like people to be able to see it.]
[Blogger: In my notes, I had bracketed the words above, which I think indicates stating the import of the comment even if not the words verbatim.]
Vic: That is one reason I wanted to take that tree down. We are cutting trees but not replacing them.
Amy: I brought up to Jim Aldrich that I would like to see at least one to replace what was taken down.
Vic: We need to get some of these replaced.
Amy: I fear we are losing one of the flowering crabapples in the cemetery.
Vic: I am thinking about 3" caliper.
Amy: We'll think about it.
Bill and Kathy Kelley were satisfied with the discussion they had participated in earlier.
Carole Pollard, Allyn Road: This is something that was in my mind the last two meetings, and I didn't get it out there. It is about zoning: the difference between compliance and enforcement . The idea I did not state clearly enough is that enforcement can engender a lot of ill will and if it is too zealous, you end up in the shape Deerfield is in. They voted zoning out and now they are beside themselves about the results of zoning having been removed. [Blogger: I understand that returning zoning has been put on the ballot a couple of times but has been defeated, and the prospects of ever getting it back are dim.]
Continuing: With all due respect to my brother and his raising pigs [a few years ago], you can have a pig sty next to a nice house. He has 50 acres, but everybody doesn't have that. I can remember Park Farms poultry. People--that's considered agricultural, I guess, but the effects of intense livestock operations are not very pleasant. Not everybody thinks cow manure smells nice and rich.
That is why I was pushing about how many people we are in court with and how that happened and that there is a different approach. A less impatient feeling if you are on the receiving end of the regulations [if compliance is the guiding principle instead of enforcement]. I have said it as clearly as I can now. That's it.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: ODOT is scheduled to do work on S.R. 82 in 2019. There is a culvert to replace to the east [of the township hall]. When they were in Streetsboro, whatever they were doing, they were there and did some work that improved things on S.R. 3034. As long as the state is here and it is their intersection, maybe they could work to raise the level of Mantua Center Road. That would raise the road 2-1/2 feet at least. The way to see how this would work, stop at the intersection where you would take your best view and get out and stand at your car to see how the view is improved. [Dave was talking directly to Jason with this example].
I would hope you would diligently pursue that with the State. It would make it a permanent fix and although it would cost money and might cost the township something, you might be able to get some materials donated because everyone has trouble seeing there.
I will say that the other night as I was going home, as I got to Quail Crest the street light went out, and I thought that was nice. I hope we can find a way to have lights shine down.
Vic: I just had a conversation with the trustees in Auburn Township. They are replacing 52 lights with LEDs, and they are said to pay for themselves within 6 years. I am going to see if I can fill out the work sheet myself. Some of our buildings are scheduled for review.
Dave: We replaced fluorescent lights with LEDs and have twice as much light as before. The LEDs made a huge difference, and there is no mercury in the lights.
Let me back up--I belong to National Wildlife Federation. I see pictures of the Milky Way taken out West. Here you can hardly see the Milky Way.
The thing I really wanted to push was about the intersection.
That concluded public comment. Jason just doesn't seem to get it about the intersection of Mantua Center Road and Rt. 82.
Public Comment
Amy Janca: Amy thanked everyone again for work on the bullpen.
Jim Aldrich is hopeful that we can have things in good shape for the Labor Day weekend. He hjopes to have it ready to be presented.
Vic: About where the maple tree was--the grindings. I would like to get that out of there and maybe plant two trees there, further back from where the maple was, a couple of nice sized trees.
Amy: We will consider it. [Blogger: The last I knew, the trustees owned the bullpen and had jurisdiction over what gets planted there.]
Amy, continuing: This is opened up now, and [we would like people to be able to see it.]
[Blogger: In my notes, I had bracketed the words above, which I think indicates stating the import of the comment even if not the words verbatim.]
Vic: That is one reason I wanted to take that tree down. We are cutting trees but not replacing them.
Amy: I brought up to Jim Aldrich that I would like to see at least one to replace what was taken down.
Vic: We need to get some of these replaced.
Amy: I fear we are losing one of the flowering crabapples in the cemetery.
Vic: I am thinking about 3" caliper.
Amy: We'll think about it.
Bill and Kathy Kelley were satisfied with the discussion they had participated in earlier.
Carole Pollard, Allyn Road: This is something that was in my mind the last two meetings, and I didn't get it out there. It is about zoning: the difference between compliance and enforcement . The idea I did not state clearly enough is that enforcement can engender a lot of ill will and if it is too zealous, you end up in the shape Deerfield is in. They voted zoning out and now they are beside themselves about the results of zoning having been removed. [Blogger: I understand that returning zoning has been put on the ballot a couple of times but has been defeated, and the prospects of ever getting it back are dim.]
Continuing: With all due respect to my brother and his raising pigs [a few years ago], you can have a pig sty next to a nice house. He has 50 acres, but everybody doesn't have that. I can remember Park Farms poultry. People--that's considered agricultural, I guess, but the effects of intense livestock operations are not very pleasant. Not everybody thinks cow manure smells nice and rich.
That is why I was pushing about how many people we are in court with and how that happened and that there is a different approach. A less impatient feeling if you are on the receiving end of the regulations [if compliance is the guiding principle instead of enforcement]. I have said it as clearly as I can now. That's it.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: ODOT is scheduled to do work on S.R. 82 in 2019. There is a culvert to replace to the east [of the township hall]. When they were in Streetsboro, whatever they were doing, they were there and did some work that improved things on S.R. 3034. As long as the state is here and it is their intersection, maybe they could work to raise the level of Mantua Center Road. That would raise the road 2-1/2 feet at least. The way to see how this would work, stop at the intersection where you would take your best view and get out and stand at your car to see how the view is improved. [Dave was talking directly to Jason with this example].
I would hope you would diligently pursue that with the State. It would make it a permanent fix and although it would cost money and might cost the township something, you might be able to get some materials donated because everyone has trouble seeing there.
I will say that the other night as I was going home, as I got to Quail Crest the street light went out, and I thought that was nice. I hope we can find a way to have lights shine down.
Vic: I just had a conversation with the trustees in Auburn Township. They are replacing 52 lights with LEDs, and they are said to pay for themselves within 6 years. I am going to see if I can fill out the work sheet myself. Some of our buildings are scheduled for review.
Dave: We replaced fluorescent lights with LEDs and have twice as much light as before. The LEDs made a huge difference, and there is no mercury in the lights.
Let me back up--I belong to National Wildlife Federation. I see pictures of the Milky Way taken out West. Here you can hardly see the Milky Way.
The thing I really wanted to push was about the intersection.
That concluded public comment. Jason just doesn't seem to get it about the intersection of Mantua Center Road and Rt. 82.
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