Old Business
John Festa brought up the Civic Center roof replacement: I made a list of the local roofers. There are not a lot.
I made up a letter, an invitation to bid. I will send that out to everyone on this list. Have all the bids returned at the second meeting in March. Also a small legal notice in the paper that would alert other roofers in the area to participate as well.
Jason thought that a march 14 deadline was too aggressive. That apparently was a bit negotiable. Perhaps April 4 for sealed bids.
John Festa: The last thing I have would be Chagrin River Watershed Partners (CWRP) and Blackbrook Conservancy wants to have a meeting here on Monday.
Jason: The task force for the community center. Jay Schabel sent an e-mail asking Jason to fill in the blanks and then a meeting could be scheduled. Suggested a meeting with counsel with an eye to leasing the building.
Jason sent it to Chris Meduri and asked about a conference call. I [Jason] can join the conference call and bring the information back to you guys.
Vic: They have been evasive about what they are going to manage. I think that is one of the stumbling blocks with Chris Meduri.
Public Comment was next. [I am going to present Amy Janca's and Dave Pollard's remarks and indicate where I spoke. That is mainly what I need the recording for, since I don't remember those details--and didn't the morning after, let alone after nearly two weeks. That will be a separate post.]
Amy Janca, Winchell Road: I am curious--I read the nice article about the cookie exchange and perhaps future plans regarding the Center school. I know [moving the historical society records into the school has been proposed.] Is that a dead issue?
[Blogger note: This was the content; apparently I bungled a word in taking notes, because as written the sentence did not make sense. Therefore, the bracketed statement.]
John Festa: I am hoping there is a place for them. Personally, I am concerned about the historical society staying intact, but the only way they could do that is to have a museum so people can see their collections.
Jodie Thompson: As the treasurer of the historical society, I know they can not pay rent there.
Amy: Historically the township has supported the Mantua Historical Society. Would it be so terrible to allow them to move into a building rent free?
John Festa: Most townships all support their historical societies. I wold like to get the historical society somewhere they can display things.
Amy: Yes, they have some space here, but it is not a priority [?]. There would have to be a heater. I would hate to see a fire happen--everything would be lost.
John Festa: I am going to wait for the historical society to reconvene and attend one of their meetings. We will keep you informed. [Blogger: This was a signal to end; look what happens next.]
Amy: I would like to see them have a role assigned somewhere. They had a lovely open house during the Christmas walk but attendance was low. [The historical society members who hosted that may not share Amy's view; I am not sure she talked with anyone who was actually involved.]
Vic: The management group has different ideas about the school than the township does.
Amy: This management group may do things that interfere with what the township wants. [OK, dear readers--there's the agenda, in my opinion. More shortly.]
Vic: They seem to be avoiding filling in what they want to do, and so it looks like they are asking for a blank check.
Amy: The building is owned by the township and it seems as if the township should have the say.
Vic: We should approve of the leases that go in there. It is not as simple as Shalersville. In Shalersville, NEOMED is leasing the building and it has bought the lot next to the school there.
[Blogger: First, unless my memory is wrong on this, there was a point several years ago when the historical society was sharply criticized for freeloading.
[Second, in my opinion and based on some pretty informal conversations, this is another example of "the man behind the curtain" working against the school under the guise of supporting the historical society. Or at least working covertly to get his agenda promoted. And sending an oh-so-reasonable and responsible sounding messenger to present the case. He could afford to make an endowment to support the historical society in the school building.
[During some of the really intense discussions about the use of the school--or even keeping it--Roger Hurd proffered the view that the whole building should be for community use rent free. In principle, I agree with that, but it simply isn't practical given our circumstances. I have been in the Beachwood Community Center several times and have spoken with its director. Even Beachwood, which could possibly mistake our whole budget for pocket money, charges fees for certain uses.
[Roger cited the experience of Jackson Township in Stark County, which created a lovely park for community use and eventually was able, because people so enjoyed and valued it, to pass a very modest levy to support it. Some time ago, I learned that Jackson Township had a population of 46,000 people, and it is probably comparable to Aurora in prosperity and community support. Maybe we could get there, but we're not there yet.]
Terry Hronek: I wanted to add on about the cell tower--that you write a letter to people who have voiced a concern. Describe in a letter to the residents the procedure so far. A letter like that lets residents know that the trustees have their backs. If Frontier is telling the Mantua Township trustees that they want to control the meeting, they do not have our best interests at heart.
Terry also asked Vic about getting into the elevator. He is going to install some flooring.
[I believe that he was advised to hold off for a little on that. FYI, Terry bought the small parcel of land on Sheldon Road that Shirley Shuster's house was on. The rest of the land on the west side of the road was divided into two large parcels, and houses have been built on both,. One of those owners has been seated on the BZA.]
[Your faithful blogger spoke next, to be presented in a separate post.]
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: This whole elevator project leaves a sour tase in everybody's mouth. You might want to see if Martin has taken out a passport application or is planning on moving.
Right now with this little township the fiscal officer is working out of a cubbyhole but does not need a room almost the size of my shop. Neither do the zoning inspector and sexton. Those functions can be combined into one room and give us more room.
I am sure without cramping anyone there is room in the west room for the fiscal officer, zoning inspector, and sexton.
Vic: The east room was always designated for the Zoning Commission, Zoning Inspector, and BZA. The other [west] room, that 12-foot area is going to be full of file cabinets.
Dave: I can't see that any of those groups will need something half the size of this room. Each of those rooms is almost twice the size of this.
Vic: They are 20' by 40', and the space fills up fast.
[Note: Several years ago, the state auditors' report stated that the township's fiscal records be housed in a secure room owned by the township. That criterion will be met when the west room is finally finished. With the elevator possibly nearing completion, work on finishing that room may actually be possible.]
Public comment ended here, and the trustees recessed to pay the bills. Your blogger went home.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Trustees 2-15-18. Health Dept.info; CellTower; Elevator Project
The trustees reviewed and approved minutes from one regular and one special meeting.
Financial information is available on the township website. If you have never looked, the minutes, posted on the website, contain all of the bills that were paid at each meeting. "Follow the money" gives a picture of what the township is doing that the minutes and the blog do not.
Portage County Health Department Presentation
Representatives from the Portage County Health Department attended the meeting and presented an overview of what the department does in regard to specific public health issues.
If my notes are correct, adult immunizations are administered on Tuesday morning by appointment from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The health department has vaccines for 17 preventable childhood diseases. Children with medical conditions and other kinds of help, such as medical equipment. The health department investigates communicable diseases--where did they come from?
The health department administers the flu clinics in the townships and works on emergency preparedness.
There is a program called MRC--Medical Reserve Corps. This is a volunteer program. The health department conducts TB screenings for a minimal fee.
The department does health education, such as HIV prevention and testing. The department is also working against heroin and has nalaxone kits. They put on community programs. On March 10, one will be held at the Mantua Center Christian Church. It is about a half-day program.
There is a child care sites program, as well as safe driving programs.
Mantua Township has 11 food service operations. [Did you have any idea of that? The township, not the Village. Who knew?] The health department inspects these operations, as well as septic systems.
Public health for the entire population is the issue.
On March 21 the advisor council will meet at 6 p.m. That's a Wednesday. The meeting includes dinner and presentations. There was a request for a representative to attend. [My notes do not include what response there was to that.]
There is a grant program regarding septic systems for people who come in at a certain percentage of the poverty level. $200,000 is available this year through the grant program.
[Blogger: These are the notes that a week and a half later I can still decipher. There was more. I assume that the health department has a website that would have more information.]
Club and Committee Reports
Mantua Shalersville F.D. The run totals per community are increasing year over year. The number of runs is growing faster than the population, but the population is aging.
Mantua Township had 470 call-outs. There were more calls to the jail and correction facility. Calls to the Justice Center were 66 or 56--your blogger did not catch the exact number. There were 32 overdose call-outs last year.
The resignation of Brock (?) Stamm was accepted, and one full time and three part time fire fighters were hired.
The fire district is having a lot of trouble with insurance. This was apparently the result of the switch from one carrier to another with one of them refusing to pay the claims.
Portage Co. Regional Planning: Vic was unable to attend.
The Chamber of Commerce report will come at the next meeting--following the third Wednesday CC meeting.
Jim Aldrich, Beautification Committee. The committee met last week and worked on ideas for finishing up the bull pen project. Possibly a sign identifying Mantua Township similar to the signs at the cemetery. The trees are going to be monitored to see how they are doing after the winter.
The trustees will receive the design for approval.
Jim thanked the people who stopped with comments and suggestions while the work was going on.
Jim was very complimentary to Barb Herbold, Amy Janca, Bud Foster, Frank Horack, and the road crew.
Jim: Thank you for allowing us to do what we have so far.
John Festa: You humbled yourself again by not mentioning yourself.
Amy Janca: We have a couple of designs we are toying with--not just a sign.
The LCA will not meet until March.
Trustee Reports
John Festa, [I believe]: About the cell tower: The trustees have decided to host a meeting for people to be informed about this issue. The company wanted to come and run the meeting their way and split groups up into little groups at tables.
I didn't like that idea very well. My idea was that the Civic Centeris for that kind of thing and it is for rent.
Jason: This could be seen as a way of getting a variance. If they want to run the meeting, I don't have an issue with that. The residents are invited and the trustees are hands off.
We will communicate e-mail addresses to them and also communicate with the residents and Fortune can call Sue and schedule. There are 4 government entities involved: the City of Aurora and Auburn, Bainbridge, and Mantua townships.
Vic: This has to go through zoning because they want to build it in a residential area.
Carole Pollard: This is a summary of what I said: The practice of dividing into groups at their tables is a one designed to shift the residents' point of view to what the presenters want. There is also a tactical element: If the trustees appear to be hosting this, it will look as if they favor it.
Jason: $13,000 is available through NOPEC for 2018. We are receiving the grant; there are forms to fill out. There is also event support for events open to the community, up to $1500. There is a video about the program and grants.
Vic: The backhoe is at Southeastern. I hope we can get an estimate on the backhoe. If they replace switches and wiring harness, that can get expensive. I have been researching our options. The stalling has been throwing codes. The recent one is oil pressure. I cvan't find anything on it so far.
I have been researching things on the backhoe. We talked about different things. What we do will depend on what they tell us. The fuel tank needs to be sandblasted. Various things need to be replaced, some of which are have already been replaced. The present estimate is about $6500-$6800. We are to the point that we will just be fixing things now.
We can't do without it. Terry Hronek located a backhoe we can borrow if we need to.
In other things: They poured the floor in the basement [of the school]. This was required for the elevator project. It is drying now.
One of the holdups on the elevator is the smoke detector/recall system. That comes to $15,000.
The building department asserts that we had agreed on having that and is holding us to it. It is $14,9000; the original quote was $16,000-$17,000.
Jason: So that is holding up the inspection and inspection is holding up further payment.
Vic: Once it has been inspected, we can get the money from Senator Eklund's office.
John Festa decided to have Vic go right on with the information/bills regarding the elevator project through Eklund's office.
Jason observed that we will have more detectors in the elevator than in the whole building.
Vic explained the requirements, which got detailed. There was discussion about all of this.
Vic: This is what Charles Cochran said we have to get.
John Festa was not happy with all of this and observed that the fire department and building department seemed to be recommending different things here, believed that what it [fire department?] was recommending is less expensive.
John Festa is going to follow up on this: "We gotta get this done."
Vic: Here is the elevator stuff I have been working on.
Jason: If we have to hold a special meeting to get this fixed, that's OK.
Vic: The [Eklund] grant was for $140,000. $83,000 went to the elevator. $57,000 is left for the bell tower. The state is holding $27,000 out of the $83,000.
Vic reviewed what we have paid and what we owe.
There is 10% being held back, but that is on us. He reviewed the amounts, and they add up to about $60,000. Out of that that $27,000 balance, we are only going to get back $21,700. We hjave to advance money, but do not want to advance the whole $27,000. The books had to be cleared by the end opf the year.
[At this point my notes have MEGO: My Eyes Glaze Over. ]
Vic gave more explanation, and Jason reviewed it so he couild make sense of it.
Vic observed that he had more time over there on the project than the general contractor himself.
John Festa: I don't know how this process works, but I will never again sign for a CDBG. I think we should get the smoke detector system in, get it inspected, and get it down the road.
Jason: This is a huge effort, and one of the trustees has to figure out every single bill and change order and what it was for. We need to make sure down to the last dollar [it was] billed correctly. Lisa Reeves (Regional Planning) is working on a lot of projects. I have a feeling that with some of these change orders, something is going on here.
Carole Pollard: [This is partly summary and partly paraphrase.] My knowledge of the construction industry and terms is tenuous, but I understand that there are procedures that are customary to follow. I strongly urge you to check on those and see whether they were followed or not followed. [While the bills were being paid, I spoke to Vic in a little more detail about this matter.]
Dave Pollard: I wonder if the contractor got wind of the $140,000 from Eklund's office and figures a way to get that. We put in what we need and enough so we don't have to spend even more in five years. In Huntington Township in Lorain County, they put an elevater in and I asked one of the trustees [about the cost], but he said it was about $20,000 between the township and volunteers.
Jason, to John Festa: Get the fire detection sorted out with Ashton.
Jason made a motion to use our community assistance hours from Regional Planning to assist us in figuring out the CDBF and funds from Eklund's office.
At this point, Jodie Thompson went through some of the figures on this whole thing. When she finished, Jason picked up.
Jason: I will contact Todd Peetz first thing in the morning and basically request an audit of the whole thing. I know that Lisa Reeves did this, but I would rather have fresh eyes on it. Don't audit yourself, right?
There was a request to ask Lynn Harvey what The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., had paid on this project. [It was between $27,000 and $27,500.]
Jason read a letter from Lisa Reeves about the funds.
Vic: My main concern is that we have to do something for Canton Elevator. To John Festa: the fire alarm.
Jason: Take care of Regional Planning.
Vic: Are we going to discuss the local government program with Janet [Esposito's] office?
[At this point, Old Business became the next order of business. This post has gone on long enough, and there has been a long enough wait since the last one, so your faithful blogger is stopping here. Then Public Comment followed, and I need a recording of that to be sure I am getting it right. That portion of the meeting became lengthy, too, and I am still trying to figure out how I suckered myself into pretty much a transcript of this meeting.]
Financial information is available on the township website. If you have never looked, the minutes, posted on the website, contain all of the bills that were paid at each meeting. "Follow the money" gives a picture of what the township is doing that the minutes and the blog do not.
Portage County Health Department Presentation
Representatives from the Portage County Health Department attended the meeting and presented an overview of what the department does in regard to specific public health issues.
If my notes are correct, adult immunizations are administered on Tuesday morning by appointment from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The health department has vaccines for 17 preventable childhood diseases. Children with medical conditions and other kinds of help, such as medical equipment. The health department investigates communicable diseases--where did they come from?
The health department administers the flu clinics in the townships and works on emergency preparedness.
There is a program called MRC--Medical Reserve Corps. This is a volunteer program. The health department conducts TB screenings for a minimal fee.
The department does health education, such as HIV prevention and testing. The department is also working against heroin and has nalaxone kits. They put on community programs. On March 10, one will be held at the Mantua Center Christian Church. It is about a half-day program.
There is a child care sites program, as well as safe driving programs.
Mantua Township has 11 food service operations. [Did you have any idea of that? The township, not the Village. Who knew?] The health department inspects these operations, as well as septic systems.
Public health for the entire population is the issue.
On March 21 the advisor council will meet at 6 p.m. That's a Wednesday. The meeting includes dinner and presentations. There was a request for a representative to attend. [My notes do not include what response there was to that.]
There is a grant program regarding septic systems for people who come in at a certain percentage of the poverty level. $200,000 is available this year through the grant program.
[Blogger: These are the notes that a week and a half later I can still decipher. There was more. I assume that the health department has a website that would have more information.]
Club and Committee Reports
Mantua Shalersville F.D. The run totals per community are increasing year over year. The number of runs is growing faster than the population, but the population is aging.
Mantua Township had 470 call-outs. There were more calls to the jail and correction facility. Calls to the Justice Center were 66 or 56--your blogger did not catch the exact number. There were 32 overdose call-outs last year.
The resignation of Brock (?) Stamm was accepted, and one full time and three part time fire fighters were hired.
The fire district is having a lot of trouble with insurance. This was apparently the result of the switch from one carrier to another with one of them refusing to pay the claims.
Portage Co. Regional Planning: Vic was unable to attend.
The Chamber of Commerce report will come at the next meeting--following the third Wednesday CC meeting.
Jim Aldrich, Beautification Committee. The committee met last week and worked on ideas for finishing up the bull pen project. Possibly a sign identifying Mantua Township similar to the signs at the cemetery. The trees are going to be monitored to see how they are doing after the winter.
The trustees will receive the design for approval.
Jim thanked the people who stopped with comments and suggestions while the work was going on.
Jim was very complimentary to Barb Herbold, Amy Janca, Bud Foster, Frank Horack, and the road crew.
Jim: Thank you for allowing us to do what we have so far.
John Festa: You humbled yourself again by not mentioning yourself.
Amy Janca: We have a couple of designs we are toying with--not just a sign.
The LCA will not meet until March.
Trustee Reports
John Festa, [I believe]: About the cell tower: The trustees have decided to host a meeting for people to be informed about this issue. The company wanted to come and run the meeting their way and split groups up into little groups at tables.
I didn't like that idea very well. My idea was that the Civic Centeris for that kind of thing and it is for rent.
Jason: This could be seen as a way of getting a variance. If they want to run the meeting, I don't have an issue with that. The residents are invited and the trustees are hands off.
We will communicate e-mail addresses to them and also communicate with the residents and Fortune can call Sue and schedule. There are 4 government entities involved: the City of Aurora and Auburn, Bainbridge, and Mantua townships.
Vic: This has to go through zoning because they want to build it in a residential area.
Carole Pollard: This is a summary of what I said: The practice of dividing into groups at their tables is a one designed to shift the residents' point of view to what the presenters want. There is also a tactical element: If the trustees appear to be hosting this, it will look as if they favor it.
Jason: $13,000 is available through NOPEC for 2018. We are receiving the grant; there are forms to fill out. There is also event support for events open to the community, up to $1500. There is a video about the program and grants.
Vic: The backhoe is at Southeastern. I hope we can get an estimate on the backhoe. If they replace switches and wiring harness, that can get expensive. I have been researching our options. The stalling has been throwing codes. The recent one is oil pressure. I cvan't find anything on it so far.
I have been researching things on the backhoe. We talked about different things. What we do will depend on what they tell us. The fuel tank needs to be sandblasted. Various things need to be replaced, some of which are have already been replaced. The present estimate is about $6500-$6800. We are to the point that we will just be fixing things now.
We can't do without it. Terry Hronek located a backhoe we can borrow if we need to.
In other things: They poured the floor in the basement [of the school]. This was required for the elevator project. It is drying now.
One of the holdups on the elevator is the smoke detector/recall system. That comes to $15,000.
The building department asserts that we had agreed on having that and is holding us to it. It is $14,9000; the original quote was $16,000-$17,000.
Jason: So that is holding up the inspection and inspection is holding up further payment.
Vic: Once it has been inspected, we can get the money from Senator Eklund's office.
John Festa decided to have Vic go right on with the information/bills regarding the elevator project through Eklund's office.
Jason observed that we will have more detectors in the elevator than in the whole building.
Vic explained the requirements, which got detailed. There was discussion about all of this.
Vic: This is what Charles Cochran said we have to get.
John Festa was not happy with all of this and observed that the fire department and building department seemed to be recommending different things here, believed that what it [fire department?] was recommending is less expensive.
John Festa is going to follow up on this: "We gotta get this done."
Vic: Here is the elevator stuff I have been working on.
Jason: If we have to hold a special meeting to get this fixed, that's OK.
Vic: The [Eklund] grant was for $140,000. $83,000 went to the elevator. $57,000 is left for the bell tower. The state is holding $27,000 out of the $83,000.
Vic reviewed what we have paid and what we owe.
There is 10% being held back, but that is on us. He reviewed the amounts, and they add up to about $60,000. Out of that that $27,000 balance, we are only going to get back $21,700. We hjave to advance money, but do not want to advance the whole $27,000. The books had to be cleared by the end opf the year.
[At this point my notes have MEGO: My Eyes Glaze Over. ]
Vic gave more explanation, and Jason reviewed it so he couild make sense of it.
Vic observed that he had more time over there on the project than the general contractor himself.
John Festa: I don't know how this process works, but I will never again sign for a CDBG. I think we should get the smoke detector system in, get it inspected, and get it down the road.
Jason: This is a huge effort, and one of the trustees has to figure out every single bill and change order and what it was for. We need to make sure down to the last dollar [it was] billed correctly. Lisa Reeves (Regional Planning) is working on a lot of projects. I have a feeling that with some of these change orders, something is going on here.
Carole Pollard: [This is partly summary and partly paraphrase.] My knowledge of the construction industry and terms is tenuous, but I understand that there are procedures that are customary to follow. I strongly urge you to check on those and see whether they were followed or not followed. [While the bills were being paid, I spoke to Vic in a little more detail about this matter.]
Dave Pollard: I wonder if the contractor got wind of the $140,000 from Eklund's office and figures a way to get that. We put in what we need and enough so we don't have to spend even more in five years. In Huntington Township in Lorain County, they put an elevater in and I asked one of the trustees [about the cost], but he said it was about $20,000 between the township and volunteers.
Jason, to John Festa: Get the fire detection sorted out with Ashton.
Jason made a motion to use our community assistance hours from Regional Planning to assist us in figuring out the CDBF and funds from Eklund's office.
At this point, Jodie Thompson went through some of the figures on this whole thing. When she finished, Jason picked up.
Jason: I will contact Todd Peetz first thing in the morning and basically request an audit of the whole thing. I know that Lisa Reeves did this, but I would rather have fresh eyes on it. Don't audit yourself, right?
There was a request to ask Lynn Harvey what The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., had paid on this project. [It was between $27,000 and $27,500.]
Jason read a letter from Lisa Reeves about the funds.
Vic: My main concern is that we have to do something for Canton Elevator. To John Festa: the fire alarm.
Jason: Take care of Regional Planning.
Vic: Are we going to discuss the local government program with Janet [Esposito's] office?
[At this point, Old Business became the next order of business. This post has gone on long enough, and there has been a long enough wait since the last one, so your faithful blogger is stopping here. Then Public Comment followed, and I need a recording of that to be sure I am getting it right. That portion of the meeting became lengthy, too, and I am still trying to figure out how I suckered myself into pretty much a transcript of this meeting.]
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Mantua Twp. Trustees 2-6-18
[Blogger Foreword: There had been a special meeting to discuss compensation before the regular meeting. The regular meeting began upon conclusion of the special meeting; when I arrived at about 7:20, the regular meeting was in progress.]
When I came in, there was some discussion about the county budget commission, and about bonding being required for anyone who handles township funds. That requirement applies to the zoning inspector.
Zoning Inspector report: [I am going to condense this except for a couple of things that were non routine.]
Someone has inquired about purchasing the Masonic Hall on John Edward Drive for a kennel and dog training facility. There was some question about an agricultural building.
Vic: I got some information on that last night. We will have to talk with Chris Meduri about that. He will do some more research.
The question is whether the township will be charging for the application and for the permit. John Vechery was charging for the footprint of the building, even for agricultural. John Dickey did not. Some townships do and some do not.
Vic has been compiling information from various people on this topic.
Cemetery, Jim Aldrich: Income for the past month was a total of $1,975.
Jim talked about improving the driveways. They are 15-18 feet wide, but the grass has been encroaching. Chip and seal seemed like a way to get them back to their proper width.
Jason thought maybe one road could be done.
Civic Center, Sue Skrovan: The 4th quarter was busy. She had presented the report to the trustees previously.
John Festa inquired about any issues.
Sue: We got rid of the bees. They may show up again, buit I do't see anyu other issues at this time.
Road Department, Brian Tayerle: It's been snowing a lot.
We purchased some of the new hot asphalt Shelly has been making. It works bettetr than the cold patch.
John Festa commented on some difficulties with the backhoe and thought it should be sent to the shop that specializes in this kind of equipment to get it done right. We have spent $2,000 on it with the computer and three service calls. [It does not start reliably.] The dealer came and checked it, replaced the computer, and the problem continued. We can't do without it and we are not going to buy a new one.
Vic: Our other option would be to see what it is worth now. The timing is not good, but maybe replace it. From the guys I talked to, we can probably get $30,000 as it sits. A new one would be $85,000.
Vic went though the possible repairs, which could come to $6500 or so.
There was some discussion about getting it to the repair shop, and other details.
Vic: I will look during the rest of this week to see if I can find someone to lease to us and then find someone to haul it to the Case shop.
Some general discussion about equipment and electronics followed.
Trustee Reports and New Business
Jason [I believe]: I would like to have the trustees run a meeting about the cell tower. This is an informational meeting the county has asked to be held to inform residents. So the questions will not come to us, and we could open the Civic Center.
John Festa: Chamberlin Road residents are not happy about the condition of the road. They have [the residents of Olde Taylor Woods] renewed their letter writing campaign.
Vic: It hjas been approved for paving.
John Festa: They should let people know. Maybe we can get a lettser from the engineer's office saying it will be paved.
Vic: I am going to a meeting at the engineer's office at 7:30 tomorrow. It has been approved for $360,000 for Chamberlin from 82 to [I missed the end point.]
Jason reported that two roads have been added to our total mileage, .06 and .43 miles, bringing the total for the township to 37.631 miles of roads. All three trustees had to sign the letter accepting the new roads. Jason made the motion, Vic seconded, and all signed.
Jason had an e-mail from the task force developing a community center to be housed in the school building. Everyone had seen the e-mail from Chris Meduri about the memorandum of understanding. The board wants the task force to lease the building. Chris Meduri looks at thje group as an independent contractor. So we are hiring a consultant to sublease the building, although Chris Meduri will not use that word.
Jay Schabel still wants to meet with Chad Murdock and Chris during the day, Monday or Friday with at least one township representative.
Vic: A lot in the first agreement, the 13 bulleted items, had to do with handling the money, and some of it was not legal. Cris Meduri would just as soon pay them a monthly or yearly amount of money. I think this memorandum is a good start. It is simple and covers 1-2 years. At the meeting here, we asked them to be established as a group. [This means a group recognized by and registered with the State of Ohio.] They are setting up as a non profit but not a 501 c 3. The Community Center Management, Inc.
Jason read the last e-mail from Jay Schabel and said, I think this is a good start.
Vic: I would like to see a tighter response to that before we set up a meeting. The 13 bulleted items they had were too open ended and looked like they wanted to use the township's money but that can't be done.
There was some discussion about modifying the memorandum of understanding.
Vic: We went to Auburn Township last night and discussed a joint maintenance agreement for Harner and Crackel Road. They already had a letter signed.
There was a little explanation about all of that, and then Vic made the following motion:
To enter into a joint maintenance agreement with Auburn Township for Harner and Crackel Roads for snow plowing and maintenance not to exceed $1,000. John Festa seconded. Passed.
[Then Vic did something I had never seen before.]
Vic, to Jodie: He asked about paperwork for Kasmarik Insurance.
Continuing: I got some other e-mails. [One was from] ____ Pallet Service. The invoice for $350 is open.
Jodie: I mailed it after the last meeting.
Vic: This just came today. They should have received the check. This came in the mail today, and they said it was for the pest control for the bees. This is the second notice. There was one for the Civic Center and one for the school. They said the Civic Center had been paid.
You are going to take care of the insurance tomorrow?
Jodie: Yes.
[Blogger: This seems clear enough. From the time I began attending meetings in 2003 (?) or 2005 (?), Marie was never asked such questions.]
Vic handed Jason the e-mail from Chris Craycraft, Portage Parks, about the trail at Mennonite Road. Either Jason or Vic had responded to her about safety concerns.
Jason read the letter from Chris. The idea of a road under Mennonite was good, but prohibitively expensive.
Vic thanked Jason for the follow-up. He was glad that the access had been changed to Infirmary Rd.
Jason mentioned a letter from Kurt Shellhammer about using the ball fields. There was no problem with that.
Old Business
John Festa: I still have the Civic Center roof on my mind.
Vic said everything looked pretty good.
John Festa said he did not know how to ;put it out for bid.
Terry Hronek suggested asking any one who bid to show a roof like that that they had done in the past two years.
Jason commented that he would get in touch with the Mantua Center Christian Church about the agreement that had discussed.
There was also some discussion about auctioning off some items the township no longer needs. They must be auctioned, not given away, because they were purchased with public money. Jason will get more information about this kind of thing.
One item was the roller; Vic thought an asking price of $2500 was realistic.
Public Comment:
Only Carole and Dave Pollard had anything to say.
Carole gave Vic a check to Bica Lock Service for $354.00 from The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., for work at the school building for the elevator service room [not sure that's exactly right, but it's close] and for emergency repair/replacement of the lock on the side door of the Civic Center.
The work in the school had been designated as to be supplied by volunteers, but our volunteer corps has shrunk--so this was how it got handled.
I commented that this was why we were putting on events like the Sweet-heART Auction and Cookie Walk, coming up on the weekend, and why we had a food booth at Derthick's Corn Maze--to be able to partner with the trustees on such projects.
I also made a last pitch for the event, but it is over now and was a success, so a sales pitch is no longer necessary.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: Dave commented on the food that would be available during the art event, and that, too, was successful.
Then--After the Indians won 22 games, we got a commemorative baseball bat that we will begin raffling. We will award it at our last event. We will have it Saturday, at Art on the Hill, the Potato Festival, and the Corn Maze. It is signed by every member of the team and the managers.
Nora Brant is bringing 3-4 pies, and you don't want to miss that. We can't sell the food, but the donations go to what we do.
When I came in, there was some discussion about the county budget commission, and about bonding being required for anyone who handles township funds. That requirement applies to the zoning inspector.
Zoning Inspector report: [I am going to condense this except for a couple of things that were non routine.]
Someone has inquired about purchasing the Masonic Hall on John Edward Drive for a kennel and dog training facility. There was some question about an agricultural building.
Vic: I got some information on that last night. We will have to talk with Chris Meduri about that. He will do some more research.
The question is whether the township will be charging for the application and for the permit. John Vechery was charging for the footprint of the building, even for agricultural. John Dickey did not. Some townships do and some do not.
Vic has been compiling information from various people on this topic.
Cemetery, Jim Aldrich: Income for the past month was a total of $1,975.
Jim talked about improving the driveways. They are 15-18 feet wide, but the grass has been encroaching. Chip and seal seemed like a way to get them back to their proper width.
Jason thought maybe one road could be done.
Civic Center, Sue Skrovan: The 4th quarter was busy. She had presented the report to the trustees previously.
John Festa inquired about any issues.
Sue: We got rid of the bees. They may show up again, buit I do't see anyu other issues at this time.
Road Department, Brian Tayerle: It's been snowing a lot.
We purchased some of the new hot asphalt Shelly has been making. It works bettetr than the cold patch.
John Festa commented on some difficulties with the backhoe and thought it should be sent to the shop that specializes in this kind of equipment to get it done right. We have spent $2,000 on it with the computer and three service calls. [It does not start reliably.] The dealer came and checked it, replaced the computer, and the problem continued. We can't do without it and we are not going to buy a new one.
Vic: Our other option would be to see what it is worth now. The timing is not good, but maybe replace it. From the guys I talked to, we can probably get $30,000 as it sits. A new one would be $85,000.
Vic went though the possible repairs, which could come to $6500 or so.
There was some discussion about getting it to the repair shop, and other details.
Vic: I will look during the rest of this week to see if I can find someone to lease to us and then find someone to haul it to the Case shop.
Some general discussion about equipment and electronics followed.
Trustee Reports and New Business
Jason [I believe]: I would like to have the trustees run a meeting about the cell tower. This is an informational meeting the county has asked to be held to inform residents. So the questions will not come to us, and we could open the Civic Center.
John Festa: Chamberlin Road residents are not happy about the condition of the road. They have [the residents of Olde Taylor Woods] renewed their letter writing campaign.
Vic: It hjas been approved for paving.
John Festa: They should let people know. Maybe we can get a lettser from the engineer's office saying it will be paved.
Vic: I am going to a meeting at the engineer's office at 7:30 tomorrow. It has been approved for $360,000 for Chamberlin from 82 to [I missed the end point.]
Jason reported that two roads have been added to our total mileage, .06 and .43 miles, bringing the total for the township to 37.631 miles of roads. All three trustees had to sign the letter accepting the new roads. Jason made the motion, Vic seconded, and all signed.
Jason had an e-mail from the task force developing a community center to be housed in the school building. Everyone had seen the e-mail from Chris Meduri about the memorandum of understanding. The board wants the task force to lease the building. Chris Meduri looks at thje group as an independent contractor. So we are hiring a consultant to sublease the building, although Chris Meduri will not use that word.
Jay Schabel still wants to meet with Chad Murdock and Chris during the day, Monday or Friday with at least one township representative.
Vic: A lot in the first agreement, the 13 bulleted items, had to do with handling the money, and some of it was not legal. Cris Meduri would just as soon pay them a monthly or yearly amount of money. I think this memorandum is a good start. It is simple and covers 1-2 years. At the meeting here, we asked them to be established as a group. [This means a group recognized by and registered with the State of Ohio.] They are setting up as a non profit but not a 501 c 3. The Community Center Management, Inc.
Jason read the last e-mail from Jay Schabel and said, I think this is a good start.
Vic: I would like to see a tighter response to that before we set up a meeting. The 13 bulleted items they had were too open ended and looked like they wanted to use the township's money but that can't be done.
There was some discussion about modifying the memorandum of understanding.
Vic: We went to Auburn Township last night and discussed a joint maintenance agreement for Harner and Crackel Road. They already had a letter signed.
There was a little explanation about all of that, and then Vic made the following motion:
To enter into a joint maintenance agreement with Auburn Township for Harner and Crackel Roads for snow plowing and maintenance not to exceed $1,000. John Festa seconded. Passed.
[Then Vic did something I had never seen before.]
Vic, to Jodie: He asked about paperwork for Kasmarik Insurance.
Continuing: I got some other e-mails. [One was from] ____ Pallet Service. The invoice for $350 is open.
Jodie: I mailed it after the last meeting.
Vic: This just came today. They should have received the check. This came in the mail today, and they said it was for the pest control for the bees. This is the second notice. There was one for the Civic Center and one for the school. They said the Civic Center had been paid.
You are going to take care of the insurance tomorrow?
Jodie: Yes.
[Blogger: This seems clear enough. From the time I began attending meetings in 2003 (?) or 2005 (?), Marie was never asked such questions.]
Vic handed Jason the e-mail from Chris Craycraft, Portage Parks, about the trail at Mennonite Road. Either Jason or Vic had responded to her about safety concerns.
Jason read the letter from Chris. The idea of a road under Mennonite was good, but prohibitively expensive.
Vic thanked Jason for the follow-up. He was glad that the access had been changed to Infirmary Rd.
Jason mentioned a letter from Kurt Shellhammer about using the ball fields. There was no problem with that.
Old Business
John Festa: I still have the Civic Center roof on my mind.
Vic said everything looked pretty good.
John Festa said he did not know how to ;put it out for bid.
Terry Hronek suggested asking any one who bid to show a roof like that that they had done in the past two years.
Jason commented that he would get in touch with the Mantua Center Christian Church about the agreement that had discussed.
There was also some discussion about auctioning off some items the township no longer needs. They must be auctioned, not given away, because they were purchased with public money. Jason will get more information about this kind of thing.
One item was the roller; Vic thought an asking price of $2500 was realistic.
Public Comment:
Only Carole and Dave Pollard had anything to say.
Carole gave Vic a check to Bica Lock Service for $354.00 from The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., for work at the school building for the elevator service room [not sure that's exactly right, but it's close] and for emergency repair/replacement of the lock on the side door of the Civic Center.
The work in the school had been designated as to be supplied by volunteers, but our volunteer corps has shrunk--so this was how it got handled.
I commented that this was why we were putting on events like the Sweet-heART Auction and Cookie Walk, coming up on the weekend, and why we had a food booth at Derthick's Corn Maze--to be able to partner with the trustees on such projects.
I also made a last pitch for the event, but it is over now and was a success, so a sales pitch is no longer necessary.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: Dave commented on the food that would be available during the art event, and that, too, was successful.
Then--After the Indians won 22 games, we got a commemorative baseball bat that we will begin raffling. We will award it at our last event. We will have it Saturday, at Art on the Hill, the Potato Festival, and the Corn Maze. It is signed by every member of the team and the managers.
Nora Brant is bringing 3-4 pies, and you don't want to miss that. We can't sell the food, but the donations go to what we do.
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