The County Commissioners have reduced load limits by 30% on township and county roads from January 31 to May 1. This is customary.
Portage County Recycling will be putting dumpsters at Robin Park rather than sending trucks down all of the fragile roads in the park. This is a contract change, so the trustees have to sign an amendment and then send it to the commissioners and Bill Stiner (Portage Co. Recycling).
Brian Tayerle reported for the road department. The Sterling needs new tires. Vic made a motion to buy the tires from Mantua NAPA for $360 each. [I do not know whether this is four tires or more, considering that this is one of the trucks.]
There were some other maintenance type of things to deal with.
Cemetery: Income for 2017 was $25,098.80. John Festa thanked Jim Aldrich for his hard work.
Zoning Inspector, Pete Tosi: A new set of property tax maps has been ordered.
The telecommunications tower will go before the BZA.
Vic has been helping get Pete oriented and said he is doing very well for all he has to handle and what has been put on him.
Pete: He [Vic] is like a walking encyclopedia.
Zoning Commission: Sue Skrovan, secretary: Lynn Harvey has received a call from a gentleman interested in possibly buying Roundup Lake. Roundup Lake is in the conservation district. I was very glad we got that done. Lynn wanted the trustees to know that there had been inquiries about that property.
Jason referred to an e-mail regarding the property at Mantua Corners. Someone wanted to look at that for potential development. The owner claims there are 12 acres, but Pete Tosi said that we could only come up with 9.
Vic: This is why we need the new tax maps.
John Festa wanted someone to represent the township at the Chamber of Commerce meetings. Carole Pollard volunteered and was accepted to do that for 2018. John Festa requested that the trustees get a copy of the Chamber minutes.
The trustees received a letter from Chris Craycraft, Portage County Parks, looking for a letter of support for work on the Headwaters Trail. The railroad is releasing the roadway and the parks commission is working on acquiring it. Some work needs to be done to make the trail accessible from the Village into the Township at Mennonite Road. She had provided a letter of support that the trustees could sign if they approved.
There was some discussion about the implications for the township of this action.
There was some room for informality in this meeting:
Carole Pollard: The original railroad went under the road. Reinstate that with a big culvert, for example--that would be the responsibility of the parks. [Otherwise, it looks as if the township would be responsible, and it does not look cheap.]
Vic: The elevator. We had an insurance company come out and clean up. Things are drying out well.
Vic is to meet with the adjuster about the real work to be done, and the costs.
Vic: The other thing, Jason, is that we need to talk about the elevator. I spoke with Terrie Nielsen. She said there was an over payment of about $7,000.
[OK, everyone--at this point there was a discussion about the money and work involved on this project. The original grant was through the commissioners, but now the township is working with Senator Eklund's office, through which the township got a grant for $140,000 which would be used to finish up the elevator and then work on the bell tower.
[There was quite a bit of discussion about how the money was working and about dealing with the contractor. Everyone acknowledged that it was confusing.
[It became clear that Vic had been on this and had talked with Jessica in Senator Eklund's office and also with Lisa Reeves in Regional Planning.
[One thing that was stated was that the Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., had paid $27,500 towards this project.
[Vic did a lot of explaining about how it all works or is supposed to work.]
Vic then explained that the sump pump has to be redone: the water problems damaged it because it had not been plugged in, [as I understand it, the contractor was supposed to have done that, but I may be wrong on that].
Vic continued to explain that there are three inspections that need to be done before any more money will be released: a final inspection from the building inspector and then the fire inspector and then the elevator inspector.
Jason: Are we going to be able to get him to fix it? [Blogger: Jason was more involved and engaged with this issue than I remember seeing him on anything having to do with the school.]
John Festa: We want to pay him, but we want the work to be done.
Vic: We will not get that money back for several months. He explained further how that would work. We will get the money when the three inspections have been completed.
Things then moved on.
Jason: I apologize up front. This is about the vacant properties. We have done the bulk of the work already.
He then reviewed the work that has been done.
Continuing: One party has requested a public hearing. That one gets a bit tricky.
To Jodie: I need some help from you on this. I need signed copies of the resolutions with all of our signatures plus a copy of the letter from the party requesting the hearing.
There are four sets of papers for each property.
Jason coached/ advised/directed Jodie how to go about it.
Continuing: At the next meeting I am going to haveall of this stuiff straightened out.
Vic presented his papers for the classes he took after being re-elected.
Public Comment came next.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: I guess this is a good example of larger government in action. It is too bad we didn't have total control of the project and I think it would have been done long ago. But I don't know how this is supposed to go.
If you decide to go with the idea of the trail, it might be good to see if the parks would pursue the idea of a large culvert. It would be safer and there may be grants. In some places, there is money available to let wild game go through. It might be worth having the parks department look into that.
Other than that, I just wish this elevator project were done. I think a lot of things are hanging fire but it is out of your hands. Having the elevator for the art auction and cookie walk would be good.
I brought up a couple of meetings ago how I preferred Ohio weather and now the mountains are running down into the streets in California.
Blogger: The meeting recessed here to pay the bills, and your faithful blogger went home.
I commented during club and committee reports, and also I think in public comment. It seems, in retrospect, that neither was all that important, but I will listen to the recording and at least summarize those comments in a separate post.
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Sunday, January 28, 2018
A correction
The correction is brief: In the previous post I gave the wrong date for the next trustees meeting.
Because of the winter conference for local governments in Columbus from January 31-February 2 or 3, the next meeting of the Mantua Township Trustees will be Tuesday, February 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Mantua Township Hall.
Because of the winter conference for local governments in Columbus from January 31-February 2 or 3, the next meeting of the Mantua Township Trustees will be Tuesday, February 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Mantua Township Hall.
Saturday, January 27, 2018
About the Blog
When I started the blog, things in the township were ugly. A female trustee wannabe with a long list of financial problems duly recorded on the Portage County website was not only coming to meetings and accusing the trustees and Marie Stehli, the fiscal officer at the time, of not granting her voluminous and repetitive records requests; she had also enlisted a henchman from Aurora who was doing the same thing there. Their claim that they were keeping the trustees honest was thinly veiled psychological brutality.
The trustees at the time were Steve Oros, Mark Hall, and Victor Grimm. We should have people that honest and courageous in Congress.
Among the demands was a website, a website, a website. There were a couple of meetings when the hall had been packed with people stumping for a website. Clearly, they had in my opinion been coached if not rehearsed. It was all too smooth, although I didn't see any cue cards, not quite.
Finally, at one meeting, someone declared that they would create their own website--which they did, complete with a comments "bulletin board" which savaged anyone and everyone who (a) disagreed with them and (b) didn't knuckle under. One of the township stalwarts on the side of integrity christened it "the rogue website," and although there is a kind of romanticism associated with "rogue," this example was in fact vile.
Lies were told, both on that website and in meetings, both orally and in writing. I was threatened a couple of times with lawsuits, and I will get to that shortly. Slanderous, ugly, pornographic mail and cartoons were sent or put out, anonymously, of course. My understanding of "obscene" underwent a great development and refinement. I would rather have cleaned a barn packed halfway to the rafters with organic fertilizer--and, trust me, I know what that is like.
Vic was told that the school was going to be used to bring him down, and meeting after meeting that intention was demonstrated from the back of the room.
You, dear readers, know about a lot of that because of the blog. When the rogue website got up and running in its full filth, I felt sick to my stomach, partly at what was on it and partly because, lacking the computer skills to create and manage a website, I felt that the thugs could get their way and we were helpless.
But I had heard about blogs, which are free, and a friend in San Antonio got on the phone with me and coached me through creating Virtual Torch.
At first, I spent hours every day essentially transcribing every word, good, bad, and ugly. The blog was my life, and it was like breaking rocks with a ball peen hammer: a brutal amount of soul-killing work, but in my mind absolutely necessary. I wish half of the township had been reading it. The hostiles certainly were.
The school was the focus of huge amounts of attention, and the people committed to saving and using it took every criticism and every obstacle as markers of what had to be done to succeed. And then did those things.
Todd Peetz, head of the Portage County Regional Planing Commission, proposed four committees,which were put in place and functioned for a while. The Grants and Funding Committee is the sole survivor and is doing solid, perhaps even noble, work.
But this is about the blog, not the school.
The crisis and viciousness that prompted my starting the blog have abated. Historic buildings that a community works to save are always objects of criticism, but the yowls of "Tear it down!" have died away in the face of one solid accomplishment after another. (The chief source of the viciousness is still vicious, but has not been pushing the "Tear it down" agenda. Just defeat the school levy and try to pack the school board, a different field of action but same modus operandi.)
I said I would get to the lawsuit stuff. I don't need to go into that in this post, having devoted one to that episode after everything was resolved. The post was titled, I think, "Careful what you ask for," and I believe it was done in maybe September 2015 or 2016.
OK. The point of this is to give you the background on why the blog is being posted much less frequently and at less length than previously. First, as I said, the crisis is behind, although careful work continues to be necessary.
Second, I said in the post about the lawsuit that, before it was brought, I had intended to stop doing the blog by the end of that year, but that now, I would continue doing it as long as I flaming well pleased.
I am reaching the end of being flaming well pleased--not there yet, but approaching it. I am not going to delete what has been posted for all these years, and I can always resume if things go really sour. And will, if it looks necessary.
The other thing that makes the blog a lot less necessary than it was at first is that the township has its own website now. Minutes (which contain the bills paid, among other things) and the whole zoning book are on the website.
So is a video recording of each meeting. I can assure you that there are times when the text of the blog is pretty dry stuff compared to tone of voice, expression, and body language at the front table.
In other words, you have more ways to learn what is going on than when I started the blog. And you can even--radical notion--attend meetings. They are not nearly so ugly now as they were at one time.
After all this time doing this post, I am not going to sit here even longer and do the 1/18/18 meeting right now. But soon.
FYI, the next meeting of the trustees will be Tuesday, February 6, at 7:30 in the township hall. The reason is that the Winter Conference for local governments is from January 31-February 2 or 3 in Columbus--which wipes out the regular date for the meetings.
Remember the Sweet-heART Auction and Cookie Walk on February 10!
The trustees at the time were Steve Oros, Mark Hall, and Victor Grimm. We should have people that honest and courageous in Congress.
Among the demands was a website, a website, a website. There were a couple of meetings when the hall had been packed with people stumping for a website. Clearly, they had in my opinion been coached if not rehearsed. It was all too smooth, although I didn't see any cue cards, not quite.
Finally, at one meeting, someone declared that they would create their own website--which they did, complete with a comments "bulletin board" which savaged anyone and everyone who (a) disagreed with them and (b) didn't knuckle under. One of the township stalwarts on the side of integrity christened it "the rogue website," and although there is a kind of romanticism associated with "rogue," this example was in fact vile.
Lies were told, both on that website and in meetings, both orally and in writing. I was threatened a couple of times with lawsuits, and I will get to that shortly. Slanderous, ugly, pornographic mail and cartoons were sent or put out, anonymously, of course. My understanding of "obscene" underwent a great development and refinement. I would rather have cleaned a barn packed halfway to the rafters with organic fertilizer--and, trust me, I know what that is like.
Vic was told that the school was going to be used to bring him down, and meeting after meeting that intention was demonstrated from the back of the room.
You, dear readers, know about a lot of that because of the blog. When the rogue website got up and running in its full filth, I felt sick to my stomach, partly at what was on it and partly because, lacking the computer skills to create and manage a website, I felt that the thugs could get their way and we were helpless.
But I had heard about blogs, which are free, and a friend in San Antonio got on the phone with me and coached me through creating Virtual Torch.
At first, I spent hours every day essentially transcribing every word, good, bad, and ugly. The blog was my life, and it was like breaking rocks with a ball peen hammer: a brutal amount of soul-killing work, but in my mind absolutely necessary. I wish half of the township had been reading it. The hostiles certainly were.
The school was the focus of huge amounts of attention, and the people committed to saving and using it took every criticism and every obstacle as markers of what had to be done to succeed. And then did those things.
Todd Peetz, head of the Portage County Regional Planing Commission, proposed four committees,which were put in place and functioned for a while. The Grants and Funding Committee is the sole survivor and is doing solid, perhaps even noble, work.
But this is about the blog, not the school.
The crisis and viciousness that prompted my starting the blog have abated. Historic buildings that a community works to save are always objects of criticism, but the yowls of "Tear it down!" have died away in the face of one solid accomplishment after another. (The chief source of the viciousness is still vicious, but has not been pushing the "Tear it down" agenda. Just defeat the school levy and try to pack the school board, a different field of action but same modus operandi.)
I said I would get to the lawsuit stuff. I don't need to go into that in this post, having devoted one to that episode after everything was resolved. The post was titled, I think, "Careful what you ask for," and I believe it was done in maybe September 2015 or 2016.
OK. The point of this is to give you the background on why the blog is being posted much less frequently and at less length than previously. First, as I said, the crisis is behind, although careful work continues to be necessary.
Second, I said in the post about the lawsuit that, before it was brought, I had intended to stop doing the blog by the end of that year, but that now, I would continue doing it as long as I flaming well pleased.
I am reaching the end of being flaming well pleased--not there yet, but approaching it. I am not going to delete what has been posted for all these years, and I can always resume if things go really sour. And will, if it looks necessary.
The other thing that makes the blog a lot less necessary than it was at first is that the township has its own website now. Minutes (which contain the bills paid, among other things) and the whole zoning book are on the website.
So is a video recording of each meeting. I can assure you that there are times when the text of the blog is pretty dry stuff compared to tone of voice, expression, and body language at the front table.
In other words, you have more ways to learn what is going on than when I started the blog. And you can even--radical notion--attend meetings. They are not nearly so ugly now as they were at one time.
After all this time doing this post, I am not going to sit here even longer and do the 1/18/18 meeting right now. But soon.
FYI, the next meeting of the trustees will be Tuesday, February 6, at 7:30 in the township hall. The reason is that the Winter Conference for local governments is from January 31-February 2 or 3 in Columbus--which wipes out the regular date for the meetings.
Remember the Sweet-heART Auction and Cookie Walk on February 10!
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Mantua Twp. Trustees 1st mtg. 2018
John Festa called the meeting to order at 7:42 p.m.
[Blogger: I am going to go once over lightly on this meeting. There was nothing flamboyant about it, so only the things I think are significant will get much attention. Remember that the meetings are videotaped. I don't know how soon after the meeting those recordings are put onto the township website, but they are posted, as are the minutes.]
Various things with zoning issues are still being worked out. We acquired several BZA/court issues over the previous several years, and those are being worked on. One is Enterprise; the other is Carlton. Jason will contact the BZA about Enterprise. Vic was going to go over a few things after the meeting.
Jim Aldrich, sexton, was not present. The income for the cemetery for December came to just under $2600.
The road crew has been salting, and another 100 tons of salt have been ordered. The heater is up in the garage, and Vic is still trying to get the other one working right.
The Garden Club will take down the decorations in the township hall on Sunday, January 7.
John Festa announced that the fire board would meet on Monday January 8, and that it would be very much like this meeting: organizational, mostly.
Vic reported that the electricians at the school have put in what we need to run power and the heat. The need to finish some things. The road crew has been helping, and Vic hoped to get heat in the annex for the American Legion soup supper on the next day.
Vic asked Jodie about paperwork for the insurance company.
Jason reported on a small grant, which your blogger believes may be the $500 safety grant from our insurance/risk management--not sure which.
Jason also read a follow up e-mail from Jay Schabel about the task force and the management contract for the school/community center: I [Jay] just released Chad Murdock to move forward with the legal work and to contact Chris Meduri. Chad thought he would have something in the next two weeks. We found out the hard way that free legal work does not mean getting legal work. We are paying Chad Murdock.
John Festa mentioned the bid for the Civic Center roof to keep it in front of everyone.
Public Comment:
Carole Pollard, 5359 Allyn Road: The only thing that is going on at the moment is that the restoration society will meet on Tuesday next week to the task force can meet on Monday. Some of us are in both groups and wanted not to stack things up [and try to have two meetings in one night.]
Both groups are going to begin serious planning for the art event. There are five sections: the art auction, the cookie walk, last year something we called "Whimsies" because I had no idea what to call the bunch of stuff mostly crafts that people brought in. We are going to do that again because it does bring in some money, and the tasjk force is going to be paying a lawyer. There will be mini art
quilts again, and Dave and Susan will have food on a donation basis again.
All of us, probably Vic most of all, hope we have heat and it would be nice if the elevator runs. Even if the elevator is running, I don't know if we could do a major thing. You can't do a big thing and then say "Oops, we aren't ready yet." So we may end up doing that at the restoration society annual meeting and can do a nice thing and get the [right] people there including Senator Eklund.
The cookie walk is February 10. Deliver things about 10 a.m., and[we will] get started about noon. We wanted to be sure to get the date set and after the Tuesday meeting we will have that firmed up.
John Festa asked the date of the annual meeting. It will be the last Saturday or Sunday in April. That date can be reported at the next trustees meeting.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: I hope everything goes well for everyone this year and we finally get the elevator running.
I also hope we can get something done about this intersection. Thousands of people go through there daily. I hope we can get something done on a permanent basis.
Watching TV, I will still take Ohio. There is flooding on the east coast--I can understand the attraction, but tonight they have hurricane force winds and snow. We don't have much to complain about. If California had the kind of rain the east coast is getting, they would have mud slides. [Blogger: And since the trustees meeting, that is exactly what happened.] I hope everything in the township goes well this year and we all do our best to make them go well.
If you have never been to an American Legion soup supper, they are the first Friday. It is a good thing, a money raiser for the American Legion and a nice get together. During the winter there isn't a lot you can do. It is $7.00 per person, not just soup. Home made food and a lot of desserts.
Jason: I would like to send my condolences to the Zeleznic [sp?] family. Carl passed away last week and was a good friend to the township who helped us out a lot. His tribute yesterday was probably one of the nicest I have ever attended.
[Note: Jason had to take a second to clear his throat to go on during this comment.]
John Festa added his support to those comments. Then, to Jason: I think you have done a good service to this community and I hope to do as well as you. Thank both of you for trusting me as the chairman.
Then, regarding the Taylor house: I received a letter from the attorney. There is a sale pending. Whatever the agreement is, there is agreement, it is a good deal for both the township and the new owners of the property.
[The trustees' signatures were required for this to go forward. Your blogger is not quite sure about what was being agreed to.]
There was a humorous little thing when after the meeting was adjourned, one of the trustees realized that two small items of business had been overlooked. The motion to adjourn was rescinded, the business was handled, and then the meeting was adjourned.]
[Blogger: I am going to go once over lightly on this meeting. There was nothing flamboyant about it, so only the things I think are significant will get much attention. Remember that the meetings are videotaped. I don't know how soon after the meeting those recordings are put onto the township website, but they are posted, as are the minutes.]
Various things with zoning issues are still being worked out. We acquired several BZA/court issues over the previous several years, and those are being worked on. One is Enterprise; the other is Carlton. Jason will contact the BZA about Enterprise. Vic was going to go over a few things after the meeting.
Jim Aldrich, sexton, was not present. The income for the cemetery for December came to just under $2600.
The road crew has been salting, and another 100 tons of salt have been ordered. The heater is up in the garage, and Vic is still trying to get the other one working right.
The Garden Club will take down the decorations in the township hall on Sunday, January 7.
John Festa announced that the fire board would meet on Monday January 8, and that it would be very much like this meeting: organizational, mostly.
Vic reported that the electricians at the school have put in what we need to run power and the heat. The need to finish some things. The road crew has been helping, and Vic hoped to get heat in the annex for the American Legion soup supper on the next day.
Vic asked Jodie about paperwork for the insurance company.
Jason reported on a small grant, which your blogger believes may be the $500 safety grant from our insurance/risk management--not sure which.
Jason also read a follow up e-mail from Jay Schabel about the task force and the management contract for the school/community center: I [Jay] just released Chad Murdock to move forward with the legal work and to contact Chris Meduri. Chad thought he would have something in the next two weeks. We found out the hard way that free legal work does not mean getting legal work. We are paying Chad Murdock.
John Festa mentioned the bid for the Civic Center roof to keep it in front of everyone.
Public Comment:
Carole Pollard, 5359 Allyn Road: The only thing that is going on at the moment is that the restoration society will meet on Tuesday next week to the task force can meet on Monday. Some of us are in both groups and wanted not to stack things up [and try to have two meetings in one night.]
Both groups are going to begin serious planning for the art event. There are five sections: the art auction, the cookie walk, last year something we called "Whimsies" because I had no idea what to call the bunch of stuff mostly crafts that people brought in. We are going to do that again because it does bring in some money, and the tasjk force is going to be paying a lawyer. There will be mini art
quilts again, and Dave and Susan will have food on a donation basis again.
All of us, probably Vic most of all, hope we have heat and it would be nice if the elevator runs. Even if the elevator is running, I don't know if we could do a major thing. You can't do a big thing and then say "Oops, we aren't ready yet." So we may end up doing that at the restoration society annual meeting and can do a nice thing and get the [right] people there including Senator Eklund.
The cookie walk is February 10. Deliver things about 10 a.m., and[we will] get started about noon. We wanted to be sure to get the date set and after the Tuesday meeting we will have that firmed up.
John Festa asked the date of the annual meeting. It will be the last Saturday or Sunday in April. That date can be reported at the next trustees meeting.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: I hope everything goes well for everyone this year and we finally get the elevator running.
I also hope we can get something done about this intersection. Thousands of people go through there daily. I hope we can get something done on a permanent basis.
Watching TV, I will still take Ohio. There is flooding on the east coast--I can understand the attraction, but tonight they have hurricane force winds and snow. We don't have much to complain about. If California had the kind of rain the east coast is getting, they would have mud slides. [Blogger: And since the trustees meeting, that is exactly what happened.] I hope everything in the township goes well this year and we all do our best to make them go well.
If you have never been to an American Legion soup supper, they are the first Friday. It is a good thing, a money raiser for the American Legion and a nice get together. During the winter there isn't a lot you can do. It is $7.00 per person, not just soup. Home made food and a lot of desserts.
Jason: I would like to send my condolences to the Zeleznic [sp?] family. Carl passed away last week and was a good friend to the township who helped us out a lot. His tribute yesterday was probably one of the nicest I have ever attended.
[Note: Jason had to take a second to clear his throat to go on during this comment.]
John Festa added his support to those comments. Then, to Jason: I think you have done a good service to this community and I hope to do as well as you. Thank both of you for trusting me as the chairman.
Then, regarding the Taylor house: I received a letter from the attorney. There is a sale pending. Whatever the agreement is, there is agreement, it is a good deal for both the township and the new owners of the property.
[The trustees' signatures were required for this to go forward. Your blogger is not quite sure about what was being agreed to.]
There was a humorous little thing when after the meeting was adjourned, one of the trustees realized that two small items of business had been overlooked. The motion to adjourn was rescinded, the business was handled, and then the meeting was adjourned.]
Friday, January 12, 2018
Trustees 1-4-18
The first meeting of the year is always three meetings back to back: end of year for the previous year; beginning of year; and the first meeting of the new year. I am going to go over the first two lightly or almost not at all, as I will explain. Various bureaucratic and organizational things get done, and the best place to get most of that information is from the township website--I don't keep up with that kind of thing very well at all.
One thing that was done was to approve renewing the Township's membership in the National Trust for Historic Preservation Leadership Foundation. Dues are $250 per year, and membership makes it possible for an organization which has received a grant requiring professional plans or design work to apply to have those fees paid for. The resulting savings can be significant.
There was some discussion of the temporary budget, a customary thing at this time of year.
Jason made a motion to pay the bills for the end of the year, and the trustees set about doing that.
The next segment was the beginning of the year, which the fiscal officer conducts since the trustees' terms in their designated positions expire at the end of the year.
In a nutshell, Vic nominated John Festa for chair, and after the proper parliamentary procedures, that was approved.
Vic will be vice chair.
Jason will be the township's representative on the Mantua Shalersville Fire Department board.
The Zoning Commission members' terms were reviewed. One member is rotating off the commission; Lynn Harvey's term ends with 2018. Other members' terms were reviewed.
Zoning Commission meetings will remain the second Thursday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the township hall.
BZA will meet as needed. Kathy Kelley is ending her service on this board in February. The alternate is Sandy Engelhart, and there is one vacancy.
Carmen Piero is the alternate on the zoning commission, and Mr. Emshoff [I don't have his first name] is the alternate on the BZA.
Vic will be our representative on Regional Planning.
John Festa wanted to keep Lynn Harvey on as our representative to the Chagrin River Watershed Partnership, and that was approved. John Festa will be the alternate.
The next item for review was all of the payroll figures, and for that, dear reader, you will have to go to the minutes either on paper or on the website.
Holidays were set: 2/19, 3/30, 5/28, 7/4, 9/3, 10/8, 11/22 & 23, and 12/25 & 26. The vacation schedule was defined.
The meeting dates, time, and place will stay the same: the first and third Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. in the township hall.
The beginning of the year meeting was then adjourned.
The first regular meeting of the year began at 7:42, and new chairman John Festa called the meeting to order.
This is a good place to end this post. I will pick up the first regular of the meeting of the year in the next day or so. It was not long and was uneventful.
One thing that was done was to approve renewing the Township's membership in the National Trust for Historic Preservation Leadership Foundation. Dues are $250 per year, and membership makes it possible for an organization which has received a grant requiring professional plans or design work to apply to have those fees paid for. The resulting savings can be significant.
There was some discussion of the temporary budget, a customary thing at this time of year.
Jason made a motion to pay the bills for the end of the year, and the trustees set about doing that.
The next segment was the beginning of the year, which the fiscal officer conducts since the trustees' terms in their designated positions expire at the end of the year.
In a nutshell, Vic nominated John Festa for chair, and after the proper parliamentary procedures, that was approved.
Vic will be vice chair.
Jason will be the township's representative on the Mantua Shalersville Fire Department board.
The Zoning Commission members' terms were reviewed. One member is rotating off the commission; Lynn Harvey's term ends with 2018. Other members' terms were reviewed.
Zoning Commission meetings will remain the second Thursday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the township hall.
BZA will meet as needed. Kathy Kelley is ending her service on this board in February. The alternate is Sandy Engelhart, and there is one vacancy.
Carmen Piero is the alternate on the zoning commission, and Mr. Emshoff [I don't have his first name] is the alternate on the BZA.
Vic will be our representative on Regional Planning.
John Festa wanted to keep Lynn Harvey on as our representative to the Chagrin River Watershed Partnership, and that was approved. John Festa will be the alternate.
The next item for review was all of the payroll figures, and for that, dear reader, you will have to go to the minutes either on paper or on the website.
Holidays were set: 2/19, 3/30, 5/28, 7/4, 9/3, 10/8, 11/22 & 23, and 12/25 & 26. The vacation schedule was defined.
The meeting dates, time, and place will stay the same: the first and third Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. in the township hall.
The beginning of the year meeting was then adjourned.
The first regular meeting of the year began at 7:42, and new chairman John Festa called the meeting to order.
This is a good place to end this post. I will pick up the first regular of the meeting of the year in the next day or so. It was not long and was uneventful.
Two Nice Things First
The first nice thing is that a small group of residents decided to revive a pre-Christmas event that had been the custom for years until somewhere around 2009 or so.
During the week before Christmas, it had been the township's custom to have a potluck lunch for the road crews of Mantua, Shalersville, and Auburn townships, any trustees who could make it, members of various committees and commissions, and contractors and other friends of the township.
It was always a nice, neighborly, pleasant hour and a half or two around lunch time.
This year, our road crew and the crews from Shalersville and Auburn, members of the various zoning commissions and boards, MaRSI officers, and Vic all attended, as well as Sue Skrovan and Rhetta Hall, Sue because she wears so many hats, including cleaning and scheduling the Civic Center, and Rhetta because she keeps the Township Hall spotless and organized. Jodie Thompson came, and we met the new Zoning Inspector, Pete Tosi, and his wife.
It was a nice time, worth doing again next year, and Jodie was particularly gracious in acknowledging it at the trustees meeting the next evening.
The second nice thing was that the mayor of Hiram Village invited the newly elected or re-elected officials from Hiram, Mantua, Freedom, Nelson, and Garrettsville to be sworn in by Congressman David Joyce at Koritansky Hall in Hiram. You may be able to find that on Mr. Joyce's website; photos were included in his newsletter, "Dave's Weekly Wrap."
Jason and Vic attended, as did the newly elected Crestwood School Board members, Kristin Cavanaugh and Shawn [there's another way to spell that name, and I may not have it right--my apologies].
It was an only-in-America kind of evening. First of all, Koritanskty Hall is a splendid, honest, timber framed building, simple and spacious. It had been a church in Mesopotamia and was moved to Hiram. It is worth attending something there just to see it.
Second, there was the most fundamental level of government in the United States: the people of townships and villages who put themselves forward to do the difficult, too-often thankless work of making things work for all of us. Some people were there in plaid flannel shirts; some in suits; some in clothes that you could guess they only wore for occasions like this one. And the minister has a Mohawk. As I said, only in America.
That's America, and those were/are Americans. It's something to be proud of. And we know all of them. They aren't cloistered away in halls of power. They are our friends and our neighbors. We should thank them.
During the week before Christmas, it had been the township's custom to have a potluck lunch for the road crews of Mantua, Shalersville, and Auburn townships, any trustees who could make it, members of various committees and commissions, and contractors and other friends of the township.
It was always a nice, neighborly, pleasant hour and a half or two around lunch time.
This year, our road crew and the crews from Shalersville and Auburn, members of the various zoning commissions and boards, MaRSI officers, and Vic all attended, as well as Sue Skrovan and Rhetta Hall, Sue because she wears so many hats, including cleaning and scheduling the Civic Center, and Rhetta because she keeps the Township Hall spotless and organized. Jodie Thompson came, and we met the new Zoning Inspector, Pete Tosi, and his wife.
It was a nice time, worth doing again next year, and Jodie was particularly gracious in acknowledging it at the trustees meeting the next evening.
The second nice thing was that the mayor of Hiram Village invited the newly elected or re-elected officials from Hiram, Mantua, Freedom, Nelson, and Garrettsville to be sworn in by Congressman David Joyce at Koritansky Hall in Hiram. You may be able to find that on Mr. Joyce's website; photos were included in his newsletter, "Dave's Weekly Wrap."
Jason and Vic attended, as did the newly elected Crestwood School Board members, Kristin Cavanaugh and Shawn [there's another way to spell that name, and I may not have it right--my apologies].
It was an only-in-America kind of evening. First of all, Koritanskty Hall is a splendid, honest, timber framed building, simple and spacious. It had been a church in Mesopotamia and was moved to Hiram. It is worth attending something there just to see it.
Second, there was the most fundamental level of government in the United States: the people of townships and villages who put themselves forward to do the difficult, too-often thankless work of making things work for all of us. Some people were there in plaid flannel shirts; some in suits; some in clothes that you could guess they only wore for occasions like this one. And the minister has a Mohawk. As I said, only in America.
That's America, and those were/are Americans. It's something to be proud of. And we know all of them. They aren't cloistered away in halls of power. They are our friends and our neighbors. We should thank them.
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Community Bulletin Board Mode, # I
It's that time of year: gray, cold, post holiday. The last of the cookies have yet to be eaten, but their days are numbered.
Then what?
Here's what: The second annual Mantua Restoration Society and Task Force for the Community Center SweetheART art auction and cookie walk. So many opportunities!
As last year, the event will come just before Valentine's Day, with cookies, cookies, and more cookies. That's one of the opportunities: The cookies come from willing cookie bakers in the township and surrounding areas. The only requirement is that they be kind of tidy to eat, not gooey or so delicate that they fall apart. The cookies, that is, not the bakers. The bakers have never let us down.
Another opportunity is the "whimsies." They appeared out of nowhere last year: handmade things like tufa yard decorations, lovely crocheted afghans, a handsome wooden bench made by one of the Mantua Christian Church members. And some truly fantastical paintings. By and large, the whimsies were craft items, no kits or plastic mesh potholder thingies, but truly beautiful things.
Opportunity number three is the mini art quilts. We had something like 25 or more last year, and most of them sold. They are humorous little quilts around 9 x 12 inches, give or take several, no patterns or kits, but just whatever struck the quilter's fancy to liberate her inner rebellious artist. Last year, we had a make-a-quilt day at the Tuesday gatherings at Mantua Center, with Terri Vechery priming the creative pump. After having seen the weekly quilters working diligently on traditional patterns, I was completely surprised and charmed by the off-beat, unconventional things they came up with.
Opportunity number four, which is actually the centerpiece of the day, is the live art auction in the gym. The pieces range from jewelry through high quality crafts, ceramics, photography, and painting. The people working on the event are already collecting pieces, some from the same artists and donors as last year, and some new participants. This is an opportunity to acquire a piece of original art--or to donate something that you loved when you bought it but that has been in a closet for a while because you bought something else that you love.
Finally, the fifth opportunity is to have some good homemade comfort food. Susan Buckles Pollard, Dave Pollard, and Mark Hall, the food crew for the restoration society tent at Derthick's Corn Maze, will be providing food, payment by donation.
The purpose of all of this is to continue to raise funds to help the trustees with the historic buildings and sites in the township (concentration so far has been mostly on the school), and now to give the Task Force for a Community Center some necessary operating money to set up a business structure and agreement with the township for the use and management of the school building.
OK, what about the details?
February 10, 2018, at the Mantua Center School building, 11741 Mantua Center Road, just north of S.R. 82.
Doors will open about 11 (we don't have that nailed down yet) unless you are bringing cookies. In that case, cookie delivery will be earlier. Again, how much earlier is a detail to be worked out soon.
The blog will keep you posted, or you could check the restoration society website, mantuarestorationsociety.org.
If you are donating art or a whimsy, this is important:
Drop off for art or whimsies is Saturday, February 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the school, as far as we know at the moment.
We need that lead time in order to organize things and keep the volunteers from hyperventilating on the day of the event when everyone shows up with wonderful stuff--but we didn't see it coming and
are swamped. The goal is excitement, not panic.
Oh, yes--a sixth opportunity: Come and help out that day. Sign up or notify (details later) on or before February 3. Now, to be honest, if you walked in on February 10 asking to help, we will certainly not tell you to go back home!
So--mark your calendars for February 3 and 10 for a SweetheART of a time at the Mantua Center School building.
Then what?
Here's what: The second annual Mantua Restoration Society and Task Force for the Community Center SweetheART art auction and cookie walk. So many opportunities!
As last year, the event will come just before Valentine's Day, with cookies, cookies, and more cookies. That's one of the opportunities: The cookies come from willing cookie bakers in the township and surrounding areas. The only requirement is that they be kind of tidy to eat, not gooey or so delicate that they fall apart. The cookies, that is, not the bakers. The bakers have never let us down.
Another opportunity is the "whimsies." They appeared out of nowhere last year: handmade things like tufa yard decorations, lovely crocheted afghans, a handsome wooden bench made by one of the Mantua Christian Church members. And some truly fantastical paintings. By and large, the whimsies were craft items, no kits or plastic mesh potholder thingies, but truly beautiful things.
Opportunity number three is the mini art quilts. We had something like 25 or more last year, and most of them sold. They are humorous little quilts around 9 x 12 inches, give or take several, no patterns or kits, but just whatever struck the quilter's fancy to liberate her inner rebellious artist. Last year, we had a make-a-quilt day at the Tuesday gatherings at Mantua Center, with Terri Vechery priming the creative pump. After having seen the weekly quilters working diligently on traditional patterns, I was completely surprised and charmed by the off-beat, unconventional things they came up with.
Opportunity number four, which is actually the centerpiece of the day, is the live art auction in the gym. The pieces range from jewelry through high quality crafts, ceramics, photography, and painting. The people working on the event are already collecting pieces, some from the same artists and donors as last year, and some new participants. This is an opportunity to acquire a piece of original art--or to donate something that you loved when you bought it but that has been in a closet for a while because you bought something else that you love.
Finally, the fifth opportunity is to have some good homemade comfort food. Susan Buckles Pollard, Dave Pollard, and Mark Hall, the food crew for the restoration society tent at Derthick's Corn Maze, will be providing food, payment by donation.
The purpose of all of this is to continue to raise funds to help the trustees with the historic buildings and sites in the township (concentration so far has been mostly on the school), and now to give the Task Force for a Community Center some necessary operating money to set up a business structure and agreement with the township for the use and management of the school building.
OK, what about the details?
February 10, 2018, at the Mantua Center School building, 11741 Mantua Center Road, just north of S.R. 82.
Doors will open about 11 (we don't have that nailed down yet) unless you are bringing cookies. In that case, cookie delivery will be earlier. Again, how much earlier is a detail to be worked out soon.
The blog will keep you posted, or you could check the restoration society website, mantuarestorationsociety.org.
If you are donating art or a whimsy, this is important:
Drop off for art or whimsies is Saturday, February 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the school, as far as we know at the moment.
We need that lead time in order to organize things and keep the volunteers from hyperventilating on the day of the event when everyone shows up with wonderful stuff--but we didn't see it coming and
are swamped. The goal is excitement, not panic.
Oh, yes--a sixth opportunity: Come and help out that day. Sign up or notify (details later) on or before February 3. Now, to be honest, if you walked in on February 10 asking to help, we will certainly not tell you to go back home!
So--mark your calendars for February 3 and 10 for a SweetheART of a time at the Mantua Center School building.
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Trustees 12-21-17: Mostly Public Comment
Blogger Foreword: This is going to be a quick march through the rest of the meeting, concentrating, as stated, on Public Comment. The longest part will probably be what your faithful blogger said about the restoration society's recent activities. What matters is what those activities involved regarding the elevator project and next steps.
Here goes.
Club and Committee Reports:
Garden Club, Sue Skrovan: We had our Christmas dinner and a cookie exchange Tuesday evening. We had a nice dinner and will not meet again until March. Then we will start up again and make plans for the year. We were invited to Hiram on April 21, Earth Day, to put up a booth or table and to help with children and celebrating their parks.
Amy Janca, LCA: We met shortly after Thanksgiving break and elected new officers. We won't be meeting again until March.
Mantua Restoration Society, Carole Pollard: We are hoping the elevator will ber done so we can have a grand opening [in conjunction] with the art event and cookie walk [in February]. Senator Eklund is top on our list to invite. He is a pass-through for our requests, but it certainly doesn't hurt to have him see what his help got us.
At the last meeting we talked about floor covering for the elevator enclosure. I have a check here from the restoration society. It is made out to Terry Hronek, who purchased the flooring.
Vic: Terry brought some samples. We went through what was there and decided on this vinyl. [Vic had samples.] Do you want to explain [to Terry] how it locks in?
Terry: This is heavy duty commercial vinyl, 12" x 24". We have extra pieces in case some get gouged or damaged.
Jason: What were we quoted originally?
Vic: They wanted to put down 2-foot square carpet squares. [Blogger: Remnants, to boot.] It was [about] $550. I talked with Terry . . . .
C. Pollard: Do I give you the check and you give it to Terry, or do I just give it to Terry? [There was some genial laughter about that.]
Vic, I think, asked Jason if he had seen the invoice. Answer: Yes.
CP: That is what the check is for.
Vic explained the procedure, and John Festa asked the amount.
Vic: $155.00 [and change].
Jason: Did you guys get a copy of this?
CP: Lynn got a copy of it when she made out the check.
There was some joking about opening the envelop [echoes of the academy awards], and then some red tape got handled.
Vic: Thanked Terry and the restoration society.
Jodie: Do you know when the state inspection is going to be?
Vic: When we get it ready. [That was said with some wry humor.] We don't have heat in there yet. I met with the electricians Friday. There is some question about who is going to hook up the electricity on the top floor. I have picked up a couple of lights.
Jason: Anything else?
CP: I could add something about the meeting yesterday. MaRSI is getting to the point that we can begin fulfilling our mission, which is to help the trustees by raising money [for projects].
[Note: The people who met at the school to review it in various ways were Vic; Jim McCue of Coon Restoration and Sealants, accompanied by Dr. Elwin Robison, architecture faculty at Kent State; Patrick McEntee, Marvin Windows, with another employee; Ken Parker, member of the task force to develop the school building into a community center; John Zeit, architect, who has given us many, many hours pro bono; and your faithful blogger.]
Continuing: Dr. Robison was one of the people who heard our application to place the school building on the National Register of Historic Places. He got up above and saw the bell tower and had taken pictures. He came down out of there and said, "That is way cool."
This is someone with beau coup degrees. The good thing about getting him involved is that his background in historic architecture can head off some well-meaning things that could actually damage the building.
This is the chance we had talked about for quite a while, to get a plan done for less than it would have cost, which could have been thousands [or tens of thousands] of dollars. One of the things that can keep the cost down is to have a couple of students work on it. Upper classmen and graduate students know enough to help. A graduate student already has 5 years of architecture.
From our position [MaRSI] a lot of this project has been magical in spite of everything. So Happy New Year.
New Business, Trustee Reports, Announcements.
John Festa: I am putting a bid together for the roof on the Civic Center. There are two options, one for shingles and the other for a steel roof. Terry Hronek gave me some pointers that were good, and I used them in part of the bid for the shingles.
Continuing: We do need to get some heat for the upstairs [in the township hall].
Vic: I don't know how old the heater is, but it is not new.
John Festa talked a bit about having found an 80% efficient furnace which would cost between $700 and $800.
He also mentioned a letter from the Chagrin River Watershed Partners requesting a letter of support for a big government grant for the watershed, and that includes Black Brook.
[There was general agreement about signing the letter.]
New Business, Vic: At the last meeting I had printed the information about the elevator room, and John Zeit sent it to the elevator inspector. It has been approved for that room. [I believe this is for air conditioning for the elevator control equipment.]
Vic described the electrical requirements and said he had talked to the electricians.
Also, Mr. Bica came out and fixed the lock on the Civic Center door.
Salt has been ordered.
Jason reported under Old Business that we are signed on for insurance with Kasmarik
John Festa asked about advertising for zoning commission members. Vic said it should be done in January and should include both alternates and full members.
Public Comment:
Amy Janca and Vic discussed the microwave tower issue at a little length. That is all of interest mostly to those whose property borders that under consideration for the tower[s].
Jason added: The home owner can agree, but since it is residential, the issue must go before the BZA as a conditional use.
Amy concluded by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Dave Pollard: To Vic: I have been putting updates about the elevator onto the restoration society website. I I had done it every week, it would come up to about 40. Do you have any guesses about a rough time table for operating it?
Vic: Open to the public? Answer: Yes.
Vic: The floor, the AC, some finish work. There is some work on the enclosure that is not up to snuff. Everybody wants to get paid. I am hoping to have the heat up on Saturday. I hope in another 30 days it will be done.
John Festa: Asked a question about the lobby area.
Vic: I think everything is pretty well fixed, if you want to take a look at it. The only thing I touched is the light.
JF: What about the smoke detector?
Vic: I haven't heard anything. The recall system has to be dealt with also.
He asked John Festa to look at everything and make a punch list.
Dave Pollard: One other thing--I know they set the poles on Old Frost. To me it looks as if some of the ones on the west side are east of the markers for the right of way. It looks as if the polwes are almost whjere the underground wire had been.
Vic: I only noticed them working on 82.
Dave: Just at a quick look, it looked as if they were inside the right of way.
Have a safe and happy holiday.
Blogger: This is the end of my notes.
Here goes.
Club and Committee Reports:
Garden Club, Sue Skrovan: We had our Christmas dinner and a cookie exchange Tuesday evening. We had a nice dinner and will not meet again until March. Then we will start up again and make plans for the year. We were invited to Hiram on April 21, Earth Day, to put up a booth or table and to help with children and celebrating their parks.
Amy Janca, LCA: We met shortly after Thanksgiving break and elected new officers. We won't be meeting again until March.
Mantua Restoration Society, Carole Pollard: We are hoping the elevator will ber done so we can have a grand opening [in conjunction] with the art event and cookie walk [in February]. Senator Eklund is top on our list to invite. He is a pass-through for our requests, but it certainly doesn't hurt to have him see what his help got us.
At the last meeting we talked about floor covering for the elevator enclosure. I have a check here from the restoration society. It is made out to Terry Hronek, who purchased the flooring.
Vic: Terry brought some samples. We went through what was there and decided on this vinyl. [Vic had samples.] Do you want to explain [to Terry] how it locks in?
Terry: This is heavy duty commercial vinyl, 12" x 24". We have extra pieces in case some get gouged or damaged.
Jason: What were we quoted originally?
Vic: They wanted to put down 2-foot square carpet squares. [Blogger: Remnants, to boot.] It was [about] $550. I talked with Terry . . . .
C. Pollard: Do I give you the check and you give it to Terry, or do I just give it to Terry? [There was some genial laughter about that.]
Vic, I think, asked Jason if he had seen the invoice. Answer: Yes.
CP: That is what the check is for.
Vic explained the procedure, and John Festa asked the amount.
Vic: $155.00 [and change].
Jason: Did you guys get a copy of this?
CP: Lynn got a copy of it when she made out the check.
There was some joking about opening the envelop [echoes of the academy awards], and then some red tape got handled.
Vic: Thanked Terry and the restoration society.
Jodie: Do you know when the state inspection is going to be?
Vic: When we get it ready. [That was said with some wry humor.] We don't have heat in there yet. I met with the electricians Friday. There is some question about who is going to hook up the electricity on the top floor. I have picked up a couple of lights.
Jason: Anything else?
CP: I could add something about the meeting yesterday. MaRSI is getting to the point that we can begin fulfilling our mission, which is to help the trustees by raising money [for projects].
[Note: The people who met at the school to review it in various ways were Vic; Jim McCue of Coon Restoration and Sealants, accompanied by Dr. Elwin Robison, architecture faculty at Kent State; Patrick McEntee, Marvin Windows, with another employee; Ken Parker, member of the task force to develop the school building into a community center; John Zeit, architect, who has given us many, many hours pro bono; and your faithful blogger.]
Continuing: Dr. Robison was one of the people who heard our application to place the school building on the National Register of Historic Places. He got up above and saw the bell tower and had taken pictures. He came down out of there and said, "That is way cool."
This is someone with beau coup degrees. The good thing about getting him involved is that his background in historic architecture can head off some well-meaning things that could actually damage the building.
This is the chance we had talked about for quite a while, to get a plan done for less than it would have cost, which could have been thousands [or tens of thousands] of dollars. One of the things that can keep the cost down is to have a couple of students work on it. Upper classmen and graduate students know enough to help. A graduate student already has 5 years of architecture.
From our position [MaRSI] a lot of this project has been magical in spite of everything. So Happy New Year.
New Business, Trustee Reports, Announcements.
John Festa: I am putting a bid together for the roof on the Civic Center. There are two options, one for shingles and the other for a steel roof. Terry Hronek gave me some pointers that were good, and I used them in part of the bid for the shingles.
Continuing: We do need to get some heat for the upstairs [in the township hall].
Vic: I don't know how old the heater is, but it is not new.
John Festa talked a bit about having found an 80% efficient furnace which would cost between $700 and $800.
He also mentioned a letter from the Chagrin River Watershed Partners requesting a letter of support for a big government grant for the watershed, and that includes Black Brook.
[There was general agreement about signing the letter.]
New Business, Vic: At the last meeting I had printed the information about the elevator room, and John Zeit sent it to the elevator inspector. It has been approved for that room. [I believe this is for air conditioning for the elevator control equipment.]
Vic described the electrical requirements and said he had talked to the electricians.
Also, Mr. Bica came out and fixed the lock on the Civic Center door.
Salt has been ordered.
Jason reported under Old Business that we are signed on for insurance with Kasmarik
John Festa asked about advertising for zoning commission members. Vic said it should be done in January and should include both alternates and full members.
Public Comment:
Amy Janca and Vic discussed the microwave tower issue at a little length. That is all of interest mostly to those whose property borders that under consideration for the tower[s].
Jason added: The home owner can agree, but since it is residential, the issue must go before the BZA as a conditional use.
Amy concluded by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Dave Pollard: To Vic: I have been putting updates about the elevator onto the restoration society website. I I had done it every week, it would come up to about 40. Do you have any guesses about a rough time table for operating it?
Vic: Open to the public? Answer: Yes.
Vic: The floor, the AC, some finish work. There is some work on the enclosure that is not up to snuff. Everybody wants to get paid. I am hoping to have the heat up on Saturday. I hope in another 30 days it will be done.
John Festa: Asked a question about the lobby area.
Vic: I think everything is pretty well fixed, if you want to take a look at it. The only thing I touched is the light.
JF: What about the smoke detector?
Vic: I haven't heard anything. The recall system has to be dealt with also.
He asked John Festa to look at everything and make a punch list.
Dave Pollard: One other thing--I know they set the poles on Old Frost. To me it looks as if some of the ones on the west side are east of the markers for the right of way. It looks as if the polwes are almost whjere the underground wire had been.
Vic: I only noticed them working on 82.
Dave: Just at a quick look, it looked as if they were inside the right of way.
Have a safe and happy holiday.
Blogger: This is the end of my notes.
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Trustees 12-21-17: Grants & Funding the Main Topic
Your faithful blogger arrived about 7:30 and discovered that a special meeting regarding records retention had been held at 7, with the regular meeting beginning right after that. When I arrived, there was discussion about the cell tower and the registered letter regarding it. From what I gathered, things are up in the air about all of that.
There was an announcement that we are getting a $13,000 grant from NOPEC. I believe that this had been brought up at an earlier meeting and that NOPEC was working on how to deal with extra money that had accumulated. I believe that this was it, but I'm less certain of that than that it is bleeping cold on this first day of 2018.
Jason announced that the township has hired a new zoning inspector, Mr. Tosi, who lives on Wayne Road. [He and his wife came to the informal township lunch the day before the meeting and met zoning commission members and members of the restoration society. Mr. Tosi seems willing and eager to avail himself of the many years of experience that the members of the zoning commission and board of zoning appeals have acquired.]
Terrie Nielsen (TN), chairperson of the Grants and Funding Committee, came to talk with the trustees regarding the new fund request from the state capital fund.
TN: These requests occur every 2 years. In the next fiscal year, 2018, they will award more. We received $140,000, a good portion of which went to finishing the elevator.
The next request is due January 3. The Grants and Funding Committee and the task force have been working to collect a list of the projects proposed. The only two dollar mounts I am fairly confident in are for the windows and the lighting study. The rest on the list [which Terrie gave the trustees] are guesses. I hope between now and January 3 to get additional quotes. Marvin Windows was at the school on Tuesday. I got an e-mail from Ken Parker, who had talked to Anderson Windows.
The last time I got your approval to request money. The total of the projects listed is a bit over $400,000. We won't get that, but we [hope to get] an award. The State Secretary General has asked for over $1 million for new election equipment.
My purpose here is to request the trustees' permission to request the money. The final request will look much different [it will be a formal request; what the trustees had was essentially a list of projects and their costs, totaling $417,000.]
Jason suggested prioritizing the list--we will not get the whole amount, so what will yuou identify as what to do?
TN: In the last grant, $83,000 went to the elevator, and the rest went to the bell tower. I think it would be premature to prioritize now, but before, Senator Eklund encouraged us to ask for the moon and the sky. Some things are higher priority, like the roof. I have a quote for the windows, but if it were up to me, I would fix the roof first.
Vic: The windows were a subject, but that was separate. The roof was one of the priority topics along with the rehabilitation of the front. I would say the windows and roof would be really important. Once they know how much money we have put into this, it may help us.
The work on the community center, whatever the title, would make it easier to get the funds.
[Blogger: I did not note whether Terrie or Vic said that.
Vic: This last storm, at the last LAPC meeting, Ryan Shackleford said that Aurora was looking for places to house people and he wanted to be able to use the school, but we were not set up yet.
TN: I had talked with him and gave him contact information. It is run out of the Red Cross in Akron, and I have left messages but have not heard back. There are many requirements for emergency shelters.
Vic: The Red Cross did an audit several years ago.
[Terrie made another comment here, but I cannot decipher my note. It did not seem crucial, but more conversational.]
Vic: We meet every two months and she is usually at them. [This is a woman who works at the Red Cross. I did not get her name, but Terrie's comment that I couldn't make out was referring to the same woman.
TN: We are potentially going to be working with some KSU students from the architecture department who can develop a comprehensive plan for the building--what should be done. For example, is it a good idea to air condition a building constructed like this one. I have read arguments on both sides. This would be a good opportunity to have a comprehensive plan.
All of this will help me with the priority list. The roof is obvious. AC sounds like a good idea, but it may not be--the building was not constructed with that technology available.
I am here for permission to ask for about $420,000 through the State capital fund.
Vic: I am for that. If you don't ask for it, your chances are pretty slim.
John Festa: I appreciate all your hard work.
Jason made several more or less conversational remarks.
TN: It is my understanding that there may vbe a video taken by a drone . . . .
Vic: It was done by Davey Tree. We have the video.
TN: We were thinking that maybe Coon Restoration would give us a second quote.
Jason: Feel free to e-mail us.
John Festa: You brought up the task force people--has anyone heard anything?
Jason: I can read you the e-mail from Jay Schabel.
TN: My understanding is that it is a lawyer thing.
John Festa: They were supposed to come two months ago.
Jason: The Jayu Schabel e-mail was November 30.
There was an announcement that we are getting a $13,000 grant from NOPEC. I believe that this had been brought up at an earlier meeting and that NOPEC was working on how to deal with extra money that had accumulated. I believe that this was it, but I'm less certain of that than that it is bleeping cold on this first day of 2018.
Jason announced that the township has hired a new zoning inspector, Mr. Tosi, who lives on Wayne Road. [He and his wife came to the informal township lunch the day before the meeting and met zoning commission members and members of the restoration society. Mr. Tosi seems willing and eager to avail himself of the many years of experience that the members of the zoning commission and board of zoning appeals have acquired.]
Terrie Nielsen (TN), chairperson of the Grants and Funding Committee, came to talk with the trustees regarding the new fund request from the state capital fund.
TN: These requests occur every 2 years. In the next fiscal year, 2018, they will award more. We received $140,000, a good portion of which went to finishing the elevator.
The next request is due January 3. The Grants and Funding Committee and the task force have been working to collect a list of the projects proposed. The only two dollar mounts I am fairly confident in are for the windows and the lighting study. The rest on the list [which Terrie gave the trustees] are guesses. I hope between now and January 3 to get additional quotes. Marvin Windows was at the school on Tuesday. I got an e-mail from Ken Parker, who had talked to Anderson Windows.
The last time I got your approval to request money. The total of the projects listed is a bit over $400,000. We won't get that, but we [hope to get] an award. The State Secretary General has asked for over $1 million for new election equipment.
My purpose here is to request the trustees' permission to request the money. The final request will look much different [it will be a formal request; what the trustees had was essentially a list of projects and their costs, totaling $417,000.]
Jason suggested prioritizing the list--we will not get the whole amount, so what will yuou identify as what to do?
TN: In the last grant, $83,000 went to the elevator, and the rest went to the bell tower. I think it would be premature to prioritize now, but before, Senator Eklund encouraged us to ask for the moon and the sky. Some things are higher priority, like the roof. I have a quote for the windows, but if it were up to me, I would fix the roof first.
Vic: The windows were a subject, but that was separate. The roof was one of the priority topics along with the rehabilitation of the front. I would say the windows and roof would be really important. Once they know how much money we have put into this, it may help us.
The work on the community center, whatever the title, would make it easier to get the funds.
[Blogger: I did not note whether Terrie or Vic said that.
Vic: This last storm, at the last LAPC meeting, Ryan Shackleford said that Aurora was looking for places to house people and he wanted to be able to use the school, but we were not set up yet.
TN: I had talked with him and gave him contact information. It is run out of the Red Cross in Akron, and I have left messages but have not heard back. There are many requirements for emergency shelters.
Vic: The Red Cross did an audit several years ago.
[Terrie made another comment here, but I cannot decipher my note. It did not seem crucial, but more conversational.]
Vic: We meet every two months and she is usually at them. [This is a woman who works at the Red Cross. I did not get her name, but Terrie's comment that I couldn't make out was referring to the same woman.
TN: We are potentially going to be working with some KSU students from the architecture department who can develop a comprehensive plan for the building--what should be done. For example, is it a good idea to air condition a building constructed like this one. I have read arguments on both sides. This would be a good opportunity to have a comprehensive plan.
All of this will help me with the priority list. The roof is obvious. AC sounds like a good idea, but it may not be--the building was not constructed with that technology available.
I am here for permission to ask for about $420,000 through the State capital fund.
Vic: I am for that. If you don't ask for it, your chances are pretty slim.
John Festa: I appreciate all your hard work.
Jason made several more or less conversational remarks.
TN: It is my understanding that there may vbe a video taken by a drone . . . .
Vic: It was done by Davey Tree. We have the video.
TN: We were thinking that maybe Coon Restoration would give us a second quote.
Jason: Feel free to e-mail us.
John Festa: You brought up the task force people--has anyone heard anything?
Jason: I can read you the e-mail from Jay Schabel.
TN: My understanding is that it is a lawyer thing.
John Festa: They were supposed to come two months ago.
Jason: The Jayu Schabel e-mail was November 30.
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