[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.
About This Blog
The purpose of this blog is to give an accurate account of what is said during Public Comment at Mantua Township Trustees meetings.
Trustees' decisions are in the official minutes, available on request from the Mantua Township Fiscal Officer, Jodi Thompson, at 330-274-8443. The Township charges 10 cents per page. FAX, 330-274-8447. E-mail, fiscalofficer@mantuatownshipohio.gov. The minutes are also posted on the website after they have been approved. That means that there is usually a two-week lag between a given meeting and the minutes being available to read on the website.
Since meetings are the first and third Thursdays of the month, there is a three-week wait during months with five Thursdays.
Other items of interest or the writer's opinions will be included from time to time, clearly identified.
This is not a forum or chat room, but a source of information, so it is closed to outside input.
During the time I have been doing the blog, the posts have expanded to become very detailed accounts of the meetings. Doing that is time consuming, to say the least, and I am going to try to return to the public comment focus, with background and perspective (and the occasional pointed editorial comment). Such additions are usually enclosed in brackets. However, since some extended accounts of the meetings reveal significant things--and character--better than I could by commenting, there will probably still be a fair amount of semi-transcript. (Sigh.)
My thanks to the readers who have found the blog, and to the ones who from time to time tell me that they value it. You have encouraged me when the tedious work of keyboarding has made me wonder why I am doing this. Then you have reminded me, and I am grateful.
Trustees' decisions are in the official minutes, available on request from the Mantua Township Fiscal Officer, Jodi Thompson, at 330-274-8443. The Township charges 10 cents per page. FAX, 330-274-8447. E-mail, fiscalofficer@mantuatownshipohio.gov. The minutes are also posted on the website after they have been approved. That means that there is usually a two-week lag between a given meeting and the minutes being available to read on the website.
Since meetings are the first and third Thursdays of the month, there is a three-week wait during months with five Thursdays.
Other items of interest or the writer's opinions will be included from time to time, clearly identified.
This is not a forum or chat room, but a source of information, so it is closed to outside input.
During the time I have been doing the blog, the posts have expanded to become very detailed accounts of the meetings. Doing that is time consuming, to say the least, and I am going to try to return to the public comment focus, with background and perspective (and the occasional pointed editorial comment). Such additions are usually enclosed in brackets. However, since some extended accounts of the meetings reveal significant things--and character--better than I could by commenting, there will probably still be a fair amount of semi-transcript. (Sigh.)
My thanks to the readers who have found the blog, and to the ones who from time to time tell me that they value it. You have encouraged me when the tedious work of keyboarding has made me wonder why I am doing this. Then you have reminded me, and I am grateful.
Principles
Two ideas guide and support me:
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
______Attributed to Edmund Burke
GOOD PREVAILS.
Those ideas are also the reason I have been doing the blog since late February 2011.
I have discovered that a transcript is almost impossible to do and that verbatim accounts are usually not absolutely necessary. When in doubt, I check against a recording.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
______Attributed to Edmund Burke
GOOD PREVAILS.
Those ideas are also the reason I have been doing the blog since late February 2011.
I have discovered that a transcript is almost impossible to do and that verbatim accounts are usually not absolutely necessary. When in doubt, I check against a recording.
