After Vic said that all Pete Tosi was doing was going by the book, he changed focus.
Vic: We/I need for Terrie Nielsen to bring us up to date.
TN: There was a meeting today with the commissioners to try to get some money from what is called the revolving loan account. That is made up of money that has not been used from CDBG grants. This came to us from NDS (Neighborhood Development Services). I did not attend the meeting except for the last three minutes. The long and short of it is that the packet of information despite my requests to Regional Planning was not complete. The Director of Finance is looking for more documentation.
The request is for $45,000. The director had access to the township's financials and one argument was that it appears as if there is almost $35,000 in the township account. There also seems to be some confusion about the balance of the state capital fund money, that that money should be used for the elevator. I didn't want to go to the meeting because I do not have a good relationship with all of the commissioners and did not want to be a detriment. In hindsight, I wish I had gone. We will be on the agenda at the meeting next Thursday.
One of the concerns is that there isalmost $35,000 in a fund account and I guess my suggestion at this point is that there is a bill owed to James Martin for $28,680.25. That should be paid. That does two things: brings the account down to about $6,000 and gets James Martin out there to finish the project. The request that will thjen be made to the commissioners is somewhere about $20,000, and that includes$15,000 for the fire recall [for the elevator] in addition to a buffer-like contingency amount.
I guess what I am asking for is permission to make a request up top $30,000 depending on what number is come up with. Our request was $45,000 and they asked why we were asking for that much. That is kind of where we are.
Vic: John, we have $26,700 right now in that account. For the $34,000, Jodie would have to amend it. Right now $26,700 is encumbered. There is also $3400 or so that needs to be paid to Kozma Electric. That would get things processing so we can git the inspection and get the $21,000 that the state is holding.
Jason: We are paying $10,000 plus the state's money.
TN: They are going to say that we have the money in the account.
JF: We didn't approve spending this money. All we did approve to spend . . . .[Blogger: Two or two and a half years ago, the trustees decided to go ahead with this project, with, I assume, all that decision implied. That was fine, and everyone but Vic then went back to whatever they had been doing, and Vic became the bird dog on the project. No one was actually a project manage--with the authority to hold to account the contractor and perhaps also whoever was handling the money. At least, that's my view of it.]
TN: I believe there are other people who have different opinions about that. They are going to look at this and say that you have $34,000 in this account--we are not going to give you anything. If that happens, I have a concern about whether the elevator gets done. I don't know whether you have talked to Chris Meduri and you can file any lawsuit you want.
Then things will stop and the township will have to pay that money back.
This is not my job. I don't have any answer for you. If you tell me that the only [?] amount is$14,000 and that money is encumbered for other projects, I need to know what those projects are so I can pass this along to the commissioners.
JF: Here is the problem: this guy who was supposed to putin the elevator should have been paid for all of the equipment first. He was supposed to purchase the equipment from Canton Elevator and pay for it.
TN: That is a Regional Planning issue.
JF: I asked them about this and they did not say anything. They said the architect approved it. Now they are asking us to pay money we don't owe.
TN: Is that money otherwise encumbered, one of the things that came up today is about the money from the state capital fund. But that is committed to the belltower. That is $57,000 and the difference to build it.
Jason: We have to do something about the belltower--we said we woulddo that.
TN: I would be more than happy to tell them the money is encumbered for something else.
JC: There is $14,697 and I don't have any trouble writing a check for that.
Vic: This is money that came from the state.
Jason: There was some debate about this. We started with money in this account in 2016. What I am trying to get at is that we have to do this to get the state's money. My opinion is that I will agree to do that. I would like to send a letter and for them to finish by that date [Blogger: there are about 3 more words I can't decipher or get from context.]
We have to get that inspection to get the state's money. In order to get the inspection,we need to pay the contractor. But is he still going to be owed $17,000 after this is said and done?
TN: The $21,000 coming back from the state will more than cover the $17,000.
Jason: Once we get the state's money . . . .[Blogger: Something distracted me here, and I lost a couple of words.. We need to get the inspection and get the eleator done.
JF: What is to say he will do the work?
JC: He came to a meeting and said that was the money owed him and he was no tgoing to move ahead until he was paid.
JF: Canton Elevator will not do the inspection until after they get paid.
[Then he went into details about what should have been done.]
Jason: I hate this situation--but in order to get this money, which will go away, we have to do the inspection. This is going to take some time. I guess in my estimation we should do what we need to for the NDS money. We do have money in this fund and at this point in order to move this forward, I vote that we pay this and then hold his feet to the fire.
Vic: She [Jodie, I assume] will have to move the money.
Sue Skrovan: You should make a motion to have Jodie Thompson move all of the money into that fund.
Vic: We need to reappropriate the fuinds.
Sue: All she needs to do is amend her appropriations in that fund.
Vic: I will make a motion to amend the appropriations for the unappropriated balance to meet the $34,978.85.
John Festa: Then how are we going to approve paying out the money?
Sue: As soon as it is appropriated she can write the check.
Jason: It is just sitting there. In my opinion, weneedto do this.
John Festa agreed about someone should make a motion to move the money and then a motion to pay the money owed.
Jason had become secretary for this meeting after Jodie left. Vic coached him about the amount and some other details.
Jason: I don't know why I keep seeing a different amount. [He reviewed some figures.]
Jason: I will make a motion to pay James Martin $28,685 from fund 4902 to cover his final payment so we can get the inspection done so we can get state funds before June 30.
Vic: Second.
Roll call vote: John Festa: No.
Jason: Yes.
Vic: Yes.
Jason: Motion carries.
Jason: The way this is going, it is not the way anyone imagined it going. But we have to get the state money or we will look really bad.
Vic: I talked with Chris Meduri about this. [He reviewed the people who were there: all three commissioners were there and know where we are.
John Festa: What's done is done. Let's move on.
Vic: I don't think there's anything else.
[And with that, dear reader, I am moving on out of this chair. There is some stuff, including public comment, to wrap up, but not at this sitting.]
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Thursday, April 26, 2018
4-19-18: Bullpen sign/s
Blogger Foreword: Well, the best-laid plans. . . . As it turns out, the previous post did not at all end the discussion about the bullpen. The trustees discussed bids for the Civic Center roof repair but did not make a decision because they had just on the spot seen the bids. The two that seemed most viable were by Scott Hollis (I believe) and LaVon Moore. Both need proof of insurance and bond. The intention is to interview them, and I think that will be before the May 3 meeting.
Mary Ann Berzinskas, who lives on Center Road on the edge of Blackbrook Conservancy district, then spoke with the trustees about a flooding situation on her property that actually makes her driveway impassable. She went to the front table with photographs and maps to explain her situation, and that conversation was not one that could be followed without the visual aids. Mary Ann is a past president of the Blackbrook Conservancy. She was advised of the people who needed to be involved--Charles Cochran, who in addition to being Building Department Head is also involved in the watershed, and Eric Long, Portage County Soil and Water.
That got things to the next part of the bullpen/sign issue, at 8:36.
Vic had a question for Amy Janca about the sign.
AJ: You said you would make the final decision.
Vic: Did you check with zoning?
AJ: We marked out the final location but it appears it does not conform to the zoning book. We are doing this for the township.
Vic: If we continue to follow zoning, there is only allowed to be one sign on this whole lot. That lot is this address too.
Jason: We could split the lots up. [!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
AJ: We already have an investment in materials. You gave us the go ahead for a sign. An investment has been made and there will be a sign.
JF to Pete Tosi: Is that residential?
Answer: R3. The problem is that there are two intersections. You have to be 100 feet from both.
JF: [I believe quoting from the zoning book]: Shall not amend in any way or interfere with other codes. The display of official public notices. . . . flag, an official government body. . . .
Pete: Being owned by the township does not make it government property.
JF: So we're not a government? Also signs included for a park.
Pete: That is not a park.
Vic: We have been over that--it is not a park.
JF It looks like one on the land use plan. [Blogger: How is it that I get the impression that this has been prepped, if not exactly orchestrated?]
Sue Skrovan: The bull pen--that is not a park. [Sue is Zoning Commission secretary.]
JF: Here is my problem going through the BZA--why would the township have to go through the BZA?
Vic: It is not our sign.
Jason: The veterans memorial is a township thing. [Is it?] On this property we have a township building, a church, and a civic center. There is nothing residential about this property.
JF to Lynn Harvey, Zoning Commission chair: Are you guys working on this?
Lynn: We are working on a historic district. That would not be a re-zoning. It would be a district. People freak out when they hear they can not do what they want with their property. But this has some unique features. We would like to maintain its features.
We ran it past the state and heard back that it was an intriguing idea. They don't know if it belongs on the National Register but they want to check it out.
In addition, we have a historic marker and these three buildings are all on the National Register [of Historic Places]. There are not many of these left any more and that is why this is being so defended.
The other thing we know is that with some of the court cases we have going on is that it is very hard to get things reinforced even when we are right.
Jason: I don't disagree with you; that is why we are talking about the changes.
Lynn: I don't know that zoning will solve the problem.
JC: We are Mantua Township and a government. [He gave examples.] I don't know how that doesn't fit. The church has a sign--is that a violation?
Pete: No. That was put up before zoning.
JC: The historical society sign--
Vic: We moved that. It had been there.
AJ: The marker is 100 feet south of the right of way. We put it in per your request. [Blogger: I do not know what marker she is referring to.]
Vic: My request was to meet with Jim Aldrich.
AJ: He met with you.
Vic (sitting back in his chair a little): Ah. [Blogger: That one syllable is telling.]
AJ: Please make some consideration. We are doing this for the township. [Blogger: The word "gift" was used several times; I just did not include it in my notes.]
Vic: When I said it was not a township sign, I meant that we had no investment in it. It is a committee.
AJ: When I brought it up, you gave us the approval.
Vic: That was before the information was brought to me. With further research, that is when the setbacks and locations came into play.
AJ: Perhaps there is a solution, but we do object to having to pay for a variance with $425 out of our fund.
Vic: All he [Pete] is doing is going by the book.
[Blogger: The book is a public document; the committee could have--and apparently should have-- read it to be sure they were doing things correctly.
[The veterans memorial should not have been brought up. That whole escapade became an exercise in hostility as a lever. No one disagreed about a memorial being a good thing. No one to speak of voiced any criticism, because it was clear that the issue was the so-called third rail. When Dottie Summerlin, member of the historical society, voiced dismay over the location, her house was vandalized. And, yes, if a tree falls in the forest, with or without a sheriff's report, it has fallen. So Brian and Dottie Summerlin's experience was what one could expect for voicing any principled doubts.
[The memorial and the denuded bull pen are both monuments to hypocrisy, in my view. Touted as gifts to the township at no charge, in fact they cost money in lighting, if nothing else. And in the earlier post for this meeting, Amy Janca inquired about part time help and watering the plantings. So much for a gift to the township.
[As for beauty and aesthetics, I refer you to Aurora, Garrettsville, and Shalersville.]
This is all for this post. I have enjoyed as much of it as I can stand.
Mary Ann Berzinskas, who lives on Center Road on the edge of Blackbrook Conservancy district, then spoke with the trustees about a flooding situation on her property that actually makes her driveway impassable. She went to the front table with photographs and maps to explain her situation, and that conversation was not one that could be followed without the visual aids. Mary Ann is a past president of the Blackbrook Conservancy. She was advised of the people who needed to be involved--Charles Cochran, who in addition to being Building Department Head is also involved in the watershed, and Eric Long, Portage County Soil and Water.
That got things to the next part of the bullpen/sign issue, at 8:36.
Vic had a question for Amy Janca about the sign.
AJ: You said you would make the final decision.
Vic: Did you check with zoning?
AJ: We marked out the final location but it appears it does not conform to the zoning book. We are doing this for the township.
Vic: If we continue to follow zoning, there is only allowed to be one sign on this whole lot. That lot is this address too.
Jason: We could split the lots up. [!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
AJ: We already have an investment in materials. You gave us the go ahead for a sign. An investment has been made and there will be a sign.
JF to Pete Tosi: Is that residential?
Answer: R3. The problem is that there are two intersections. You have to be 100 feet from both.
JF: [I believe quoting from the zoning book]: Shall not amend in any way or interfere with other codes. The display of official public notices. . . . flag, an official government body. . . .
Pete: Being owned by the township does not make it government property.
JF: So we're not a government? Also signs included for a park.
Pete: That is not a park.
Vic: We have been over that--it is not a park.
JF It looks like one on the land use plan. [Blogger: How is it that I get the impression that this has been prepped, if not exactly orchestrated?]
Sue Skrovan: The bull pen--that is not a park. [Sue is Zoning Commission secretary.]
JF: Here is my problem going through the BZA--why would the township have to go through the BZA?
Vic: It is not our sign.
Jason: The veterans memorial is a township thing. [Is it?] On this property we have a township building, a church, and a civic center. There is nothing residential about this property.
JF to Lynn Harvey, Zoning Commission chair: Are you guys working on this?
Lynn: We are working on a historic district. That would not be a re-zoning. It would be a district. People freak out when they hear they can not do what they want with their property. But this has some unique features. We would like to maintain its features.
We ran it past the state and heard back that it was an intriguing idea. They don't know if it belongs on the National Register but they want to check it out.
In addition, we have a historic marker and these three buildings are all on the National Register [of Historic Places]. There are not many of these left any more and that is why this is being so defended.
The other thing we know is that with some of the court cases we have going on is that it is very hard to get things reinforced even when we are right.
Jason: I don't disagree with you; that is why we are talking about the changes.
Lynn: I don't know that zoning will solve the problem.
JC: We are Mantua Township and a government. [He gave examples.] I don't know how that doesn't fit. The church has a sign--is that a violation?
Pete: No. That was put up before zoning.
JC: The historical society sign--
Vic: We moved that. It had been there.
AJ: The marker is 100 feet south of the right of way. We put it in per your request. [Blogger: I do not know what marker she is referring to.]
Vic: My request was to meet with Jim Aldrich.
AJ: He met with you.
Vic (sitting back in his chair a little): Ah. [Blogger: That one syllable is telling.]
AJ: Please make some consideration. We are doing this for the township. [Blogger: The word "gift" was used several times; I just did not include it in my notes.]
Vic: When I said it was not a township sign, I meant that we had no investment in it. It is a committee.
AJ: When I brought it up, you gave us the approval.
Vic: That was before the information was brought to me. With further research, that is when the setbacks and locations came into play.
AJ: Perhaps there is a solution, but we do object to having to pay for a variance with $425 out of our fund.
Vic: All he [Pete] is doing is going by the book.
[Blogger: The book is a public document; the committee could have--and apparently should have-- read it to be sure they were doing things correctly.
[The veterans memorial should not have been brought up. That whole escapade became an exercise in hostility as a lever. No one disagreed about a memorial being a good thing. No one to speak of voiced any criticism, because it was clear that the issue was the so-called third rail. When Dottie Summerlin, member of the historical society, voiced dismay over the location, her house was vandalized. And, yes, if a tree falls in the forest, with or without a sheriff's report, it has fallen. So Brian and Dottie Summerlin's experience was what one could expect for voicing any principled doubts.
[The memorial and the denuded bull pen are both monuments to hypocrisy, in my view. Touted as gifts to the township at no charge, in fact they cost money in lighting, if nothing else. And in the earlier post for this meeting, Amy Janca inquired about part time help and watering the plantings. So much for a gift to the township.
[As for beauty and aesthetics, I refer you to Aurora, Garrettsville, and Shalersville.]
This is all for this post. I have enjoyed as much of it as I can stand.
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Trustees 4-19-18
{Blogger Foreword: This set of posts will focus on a discussion between Amy Janca and Vic Grimm, and another discussion about the elevator. Public comment, of course, will be included. So I foresee three posts for this meeting. I had intended just to start off with Amy, but there was some township business that is not spectacular but of basic interest. So here goes.]
Apparently the fiscal officer had changed the format of the minutes--none were at the table when we all came in, so far as I know--and the trustees found them difficult, despite Jodie's having changed them for her convenience.
A motion was made and approved to return to the original format, which I believe, from context, included not just resolution numbers, but the content as well. Without the minutes to see, that may be an incorrect assumption.
Ohio Edison sent a credit of $2,000 as a result of a correction to the billing over the last 8 months.
The OTARMA check has come in for the water damage at the school: $39,312. Vic asked if that was going into the school account so we can do the repairs.
John Festa asked if we were going to bid out the work.
Vic: Some of it; other work we can do ourselves.
The bill from South Eastern Equipment for the backhoe (?) loader (?) was discussed. There were some things about that whole experience that in future need to be attended to more carefully.
Vic asked about a replacement. Even though this has been the first large repair, the upcoming repairs can add up to another $10,000: new tires, gas tank, hydraulic lines, some other things.
After the financial report, John Festa asked about the amount it was costing for the audit: about $11,500.
Sue Skrovan explained that the audit is more thorough for a new fiscal officer. With a good audit, the procedure can be simplified, and when Marie Stehli was the fiscal officer, that is what we got used to--which meant lower cost.
Note: Jodie left at 7:45. Either she is ill or she has ill children. I wasn't sure which.
Jason reported that the fire department is putting the roof out to bid for replacement. It will come to about $100,000 for the roof on the higher part of the building.
Vic reported on a walk-through fire inspection for the elevator, at which time it was noted that we needed to put up smoke detectors. Chief Roosa gave us four.
Chamber of Commerce: The meeting should have been the day before the trustees meeting but will be next Wednesday, April 25.
Beautification Committee, Amy Janca.
Amy (AJ): We met last Tuesday evening. All of the plantings [at the bullpen] survived. [Blogger: Apparently that does not include the arbor vitae.] Everything else seems to be hanging in there. The materials that needed to be ordered have come in. The basic findings of the rest of the committee is that the township did give us approval to fabricate a sign and approval to go ahead which we are doing in good faith. The final location of the sign is up to the trustees.
Other business is that now that the bull pen is almost completed, we have a new project on our list and are looking at restoration of the East Lawn cemetery [adjoining the Civic Center]. We have a professional who will come and consult and give us all kinds of advice and we are excited and eager to get it under way.
[Blogger: Read the following exchanges thoughtfully, dear readers.]
Vic: That is going to have to be a combined project.
AJ started to interrupt and Vic repeated combined--that the road crew has to work on it.
AJ repeated that it would be a community project. [Like the bull pen was a community project?]
Vic: Shalersville had done theirs--they should be contacted.
AJ leaped in again. Your faithful blogger did not record what she said in order to focus on Vic, who is--in case Mrs. Janca has missed it--the trustee.
Vic: I wouldlike to see theat there is a plan.
AJ: There will be a plan and you will be invited to come to the consultation.
Vic: Keep in mind that it is township property.
AJ: Yes--that is why you are being invited. [Blogger:The emphasis on invited is mine. Invited is a word that implies who has the power and authority. And if this sounds snarky on my part, you betcha.]
John Festa: I think this is long overdue. [Then why was it never introduced from the trustees' table?]
AJ: We are going back to our roots--we were originally a cemetery committee.
JF: I appreciate this--it is long overdue.
Garden Club, Sue Skrovan: We met on 4/18. Wendelin Taylor is the new president and I (Sue Skrovan) will be the secretary/treasurer for the next two years. We will be planting our beds and pot plants in May. We will be cleaning up the beds between the township hall and the Civic Center and the green. We are planning some field trips for the summer and maybe some classes. The Garden Club will be involved on April 21 for Earth Day in Hiram Village, which will have many tours of facilities and businesses.
Ladies Cemetery Association (LCA), Amy Janca: We will meet next Wednesday for a planning meeting. Everyone seemed to think the silk arrangements worked out well last year. [Blogger: I believe that was a reference to the bull pen.] Live plantings will be put in on the rest of the beds.
We were wondering about part time help this summer. That would affect plantings and watering.
JF: I would defer that question to Brian Tayerle.
Trustee reports came next. That is another part of the meeting and will be in a separate post. This post has not been proofread except in process.
Apparently the fiscal officer had changed the format of the minutes--none were at the table when we all came in, so far as I know--and the trustees found them difficult, despite Jodie's having changed them for her convenience.
A motion was made and approved to return to the original format, which I believe, from context, included not just resolution numbers, but the content as well. Without the minutes to see, that may be an incorrect assumption.
Ohio Edison sent a credit of $2,000 as a result of a correction to the billing over the last 8 months.
The OTARMA check has come in for the water damage at the school: $39,312. Vic asked if that was going into the school account so we can do the repairs.
John Festa asked if we were going to bid out the work.
Vic: Some of it; other work we can do ourselves.
The bill from South Eastern Equipment for the backhoe (?) loader (?) was discussed. There were some things about that whole experience that in future need to be attended to more carefully.
Vic asked about a replacement. Even though this has been the first large repair, the upcoming repairs can add up to another $10,000: new tires, gas tank, hydraulic lines, some other things.
After the financial report, John Festa asked about the amount it was costing for the audit: about $11,500.
Sue Skrovan explained that the audit is more thorough for a new fiscal officer. With a good audit, the procedure can be simplified, and when Marie Stehli was the fiscal officer, that is what we got used to--which meant lower cost.
Note: Jodie left at 7:45. Either she is ill or she has ill children. I wasn't sure which.
Jason reported that the fire department is putting the roof out to bid for replacement. It will come to about $100,000 for the roof on the higher part of the building.
Vic reported on a walk-through fire inspection for the elevator, at which time it was noted that we needed to put up smoke detectors. Chief Roosa gave us four.
Chamber of Commerce: The meeting should have been the day before the trustees meeting but will be next Wednesday, April 25.
Beautification Committee, Amy Janca.
Amy (AJ): We met last Tuesday evening. All of the plantings [at the bullpen] survived. [Blogger: Apparently that does not include the arbor vitae.] Everything else seems to be hanging in there. The materials that needed to be ordered have come in. The basic findings of the rest of the committee is that the township did give us approval to fabricate a sign and approval to go ahead which we are doing in good faith. The final location of the sign is up to the trustees.
Other business is that now that the bull pen is almost completed, we have a new project on our list and are looking at restoration of the East Lawn cemetery [adjoining the Civic Center]. We have a professional who will come and consult and give us all kinds of advice and we are excited and eager to get it under way.
[Blogger: Read the following exchanges thoughtfully, dear readers.]
Vic: That is going to have to be a combined project.
AJ started to interrupt and Vic repeated combined--that the road crew has to work on it.
AJ repeated that it would be a community project. [Like the bull pen was a community project?]
Vic: Shalersville had done theirs--they should be contacted.
AJ leaped in again. Your faithful blogger did not record what she said in order to focus on Vic, who is--in case Mrs. Janca has missed it--the trustee.
Vic: I wouldlike to see theat there is a plan.
AJ: There will be a plan and you will be invited to come to the consultation.
Vic: Keep in mind that it is township property.
AJ: Yes--that is why you are being invited. [Blogger:The emphasis on invited is mine. Invited is a word that implies who has the power and authority. And if this sounds snarky on my part, you betcha.]
John Festa: I think this is long overdue. [Then why was it never introduced from the trustees' table?]
AJ: We are going back to our roots--we were originally a cemetery committee.
JF: I appreciate this--it is long overdue.
Garden Club, Sue Skrovan: We met on 4/18. Wendelin Taylor is the new president and I (Sue Skrovan) will be the secretary/treasurer for the next two years. We will be planting our beds and pot plants in May. We will be cleaning up the beds between the township hall and the Civic Center and the green. We are planning some field trips for the summer and maybe some classes. The Garden Club will be involved on April 21 for Earth Day in Hiram Village, which will have many tours of facilities and businesses.
Ladies Cemetery Association (LCA), Amy Janca: We will meet next Wednesday for a planning meeting. Everyone seemed to think the silk arrangements worked out well last year. [Blogger: I believe that was a reference to the bull pen.] Live plantings will be put in on the rest of the beds.
We were wondering about part time help this summer. That would affect plantings and watering.
JF: I would defer that question to Brian Tayerle.
Trustee reports came next. That is another part of the meeting and will be in a separate post. This post has not been proofread except in process.
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Events FYI
This is your faithful blogger as town crier/bulletin board.
The first event is this weekend, April 28, at the Mantua Center School building:
The annual meeting of The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc.
We usually gather at noon for a light lunch, provided by Jake's, of slider sandwiches--where did they get that name?--and then the business meeting at 1:00.
There will be the small amount of business that is customary: review the minutes from last year's meeting--does anyone remember a whole lot about that?--get a report of our accomplishments since last year, and elect officers, not necessarily in that order.
Terri Vechery will be the speaker this year. As we at last and finally get closer to the elevator being finished and a community center in the building, Terri seemed like a good choice for speaker. The roots of the township's owning the school actually go back to just before 2000. Terri has been involved in the township, the school, and other community things for that whole time and can give some perspective and continuity on the last nearly 20 years, plus a glance to the future.
After Terri's presentation, people will be able to join or re-join, take a look at the memorabilia we have somehow collected, and then kick back for potluck and conversation. So come, join or re-join, and bring a favorite dish to share.
If you go away hungry, it's your own fault.
Township Cleanup Day
May 5, Cinqo de Mayo, is going to be busy in and around the township.
Township cleanup day runs from about 7:30 until 3 or so, or until the dumpsters are full.
Come prepared to unload your trunk, truck, or trailer yourself--the township is not providing "valet unloading."
No kitchen waste, please--aka garbage.
What else is going on?
There is a Cinqo de Mayo 5K run in the morning--check at Advanced Rehab for details.
After that, I heard there was some kind of special libation at Jake's Eats, but don't quote me on that. I may have heard wrong.
If you're not big on running, never fear. Go to Mantua Christian Hilltop Church for Quilts in the Village and high tea. This will so far as I know become an every-other-year event. The first one, two years ago, was lovely--definitely worth seeing, and a complete BARGAIN at $2.00 admission.
The first event is this weekend, April 28, at the Mantua Center School building:
The annual meeting of The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc.
We usually gather at noon for a light lunch, provided by Jake's, of slider sandwiches--where did they get that name?--and then the business meeting at 1:00.
There will be the small amount of business that is customary: review the minutes from last year's meeting--does anyone remember a whole lot about that?--get a report of our accomplishments since last year, and elect officers, not necessarily in that order.
Terri Vechery will be the speaker this year. As we at last and finally get closer to the elevator being finished and a community center in the building, Terri seemed like a good choice for speaker. The roots of the township's owning the school actually go back to just before 2000. Terri has been involved in the township, the school, and other community things for that whole time and can give some perspective and continuity on the last nearly 20 years, plus a glance to the future.
After Terri's presentation, people will be able to join or re-join, take a look at the memorabilia we have somehow collected, and then kick back for potluck and conversation. So come, join or re-join, and bring a favorite dish to share.
If you go away hungry, it's your own fault.
Township Cleanup Day
May 5, Cinqo de Mayo, is going to be busy in and around the township.
Township cleanup day runs from about 7:30 until 3 or so, or until the dumpsters are full.
Come prepared to unload your trunk, truck, or trailer yourself--the township is not providing "valet unloading."
No kitchen waste, please--aka garbage.
What else is going on?
There is a Cinqo de Mayo 5K run in the morning--check at Advanced Rehab for details.
After that, I heard there was some kind of special libation at Jake's Eats, but don't quote me on that. I may have heard wrong.
If you're not big on running, never fear. Go to Mantua Christian Hilltop Church for Quilts in the Village and high tea. This will so far as I know become an every-other-year event. The first one, two years ago, was lovely--definitely worth seeing, and a complete BARGAIN at $2.00 admission.
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
The rest of Trustees 4-5-18 meeting
Budget: There appears to be state money available. Mantua Township gets .7% of the pot. The City of Kent gets most of it. [Blogger: I do not know what the whole pot is or the actual amount the township gets.]
Zoning, Pete Tosi: [Blogger: I think these items and numbers are correct.]
Permits: $765.00
BZA: $1275.00
There were a few violation issues: one on Wayne Road and three on S.R. 44. Some of the residents have begun cleaning up, and one person apologized and got right on it.
Pete and Vic went to the health department about two properties on Saint James.
There were many calls about construction and additions.
The next hearing for the cell tower was scheduled for April 9, [and apparently the BZA has a role in that.]
Pete: I met with the group for the bull pen about the sign. There is a little issue about that, and they will get back to me.
John Festa thanked Pete for the way he had lulled things on a Wayne Road situation.
Cemetery Fees totaled $990.
John Festa asked about Memorial Day.
Jim Aldrich: Anyone who has seasonal decorations should have removed them by April 15.
John Festa asked about the possibility of getting volunteers to put flags on the Veterans' graves.
Amy Janca simply, without requesting any recognition, inserted herself into the discussion here.
Zoning Commission: Nothing to report. Likewise the BZA.
Nick Ehlert, Zoning Commission member: We are working on a historical tour in the township. It is difficult to learn when a house was built.
[Note: Nick is a self-proclaimed history junkie. He is also a member of the Mantua Village Landmarks Commission and has worked on a tour of historic homes in the Village. It has been well received.]
Jason: Every few years we review our zoning fee schedule. Checking with Bob Stehli, there may be an applicant pulling the BZA hearing application. That fee is $425.00, and there was some discussion about the application being pulled before the hearing.
Pete: I helped him fill out two applications and thought keeping $45.00 for that madesense.
Vic: I think an appllication fee should be charged.
Vic reported for the road crew: they were out today along with everyone else, and the backhoe is back.
John Festa: I have gotten notice of the charges.
Vic: I don't think we should pay that right away.
JF: They never even called us with the estimate.
Vic: Hold it until the next meeting.
Blogger: At this point, John Festa announced that Terrie Nielsen was here with information about the school building. That was covered in the previous post.
Following the discussion with Terrie, John Festa reported that 9 bids had been received for the Civic Center Roof. The bids were opened, but the suggestion was made that the trustees get copies of them and go over them before the next meeting, rather than trying to do it on the spot.
There was discussion about the township cleanup day, which is May 5 from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. or until the dumpsters are full.
Vic: I received an e-mail and some paperwork for the water damage at the school. They approved $44,584 for the damage. They will hold back $4,271 because of the way the policy is written. In case they missed anything, they would pay the difference out of that money. They will send us a check for $39,817.22.
The cleanup crew got $14,815.97 out of that.
At this point, Jason brought up the situation that Matt Roosa identified regarding the clothing giveaway and the issues the storage presented. That was covered in a previous post.
After that, John Festa brought up the licensing agreement.
Vic: I talked to her today. The holdup is the bank. They are supposed to close real shortly. The bank seems to think they can work around it.
John Festa: OK. We will let it go until the next meeting.
Vic: I will let her know.
Public comment was next. It was pretty short. Your faithful blogger was first off. It was very hard to hear the recording--lots of ambient noise--so this is not a verbatim transcript, but the sum and substance are correct.
Carole Pollard, 5359 Allyn Road: This is about the website. Is it completely gone? [I think that was the word. At the previous meeting John Festa mentioned that it was stagnant.]
JF: We did finally get a response from Brent. HJe said he is not active with this [activity] any more. I asked him to send a letter [about that].
CP: So is there anything we put on it, like the videos?
JF: The videos go directly to the website. It runs on its own. We do want to get that website up ASAP. We are waiting for him to send us a letter and . . . so we can get into it. We will figure out something. [In the area indicated by the dots, what John Festa said got lost, but it seems, in context, to be whatever is necessary for someone to be able to access our own website.]
CP: I also have a public records request. I am not sure how far back the UAN records go, but I would like to see how much income has been brought in by the annex. I think the rentals started about 2010 but I don't know how far back the records go. It doesn't have to be super detailed--it could be year by year.
Jodie: Do you want the income from when we were renting classrooms [for the dance studios]?
CP: Whatever you have.
Jan Oros, Wayne Road: I know that at the bullpen the access road [Vic: The original one] has been closed. But it still looks as if someone pulls in on the side parallel to S.R. 82.
[Amy Janca, as is her habit, inserted herself here]: I will have Jim Aldrich go out and take another look. We had trouble when we were excavating; they should not be pulling off the highway.
[At this point it became Amy Janca's public comment, about how people were driving through the mud and not staying on the driveway. (That may be the mail carrier.)] [Then there is this note, and I do not know who made the comment. It sounds maybe like Vic: The width is probably pretty much what it always was.]
Terrie Nielsen: On behalf of the Board of Elections, I brought little pamphlets for people who are interested in working as pol workers. We are looking for people on May 8. They get paid--they are not volunteers.
Jason: What is the pay? [This got Jason a little ribbing, as if he was checking to see about getting a part time job as a poll worker. I didn't really hear the good-natured comment, but there was a general chuckle.]
TN: It is $120 for the day and $20 for the training.
Linda Ehlert, Center Road: This is a quick question regarding the historical society. We are starting to open and work, with the nice weather. It is dark up thee. I wondered if we could remove the fan and install a fan with a light in it. Also, the lights in the ceiling. We wondered if we bought a new fan and could we put LED lights in?
Vic: ou can install LEDs in the track lilghts.
Nick Ehlert and Terry Hronek had no comment.
Dave Pollard: I wanted to thank Terrie Nielsen for all the work she has done in raising money for every project at the school and then her doggedness for seeing it through. I also want to thank Sue Skrovan for helping everyone work through the Byzantine workings of the whole thing.
Zoning, Pete Tosi: [Blogger: I think these items and numbers are correct.]
Permits: $765.00
BZA: $1275.00
There were a few violation issues: one on Wayne Road and three on S.R. 44. Some of the residents have begun cleaning up, and one person apologized and got right on it.
Pete and Vic went to the health department about two properties on Saint James.
There were many calls about construction and additions.
The next hearing for the cell tower was scheduled for April 9, [and apparently the BZA has a role in that.]
Pete: I met with the group for the bull pen about the sign. There is a little issue about that, and they will get back to me.
John Festa thanked Pete for the way he had lulled things on a Wayne Road situation.
Cemetery Fees totaled $990.
John Festa asked about Memorial Day.
Jim Aldrich: Anyone who has seasonal decorations should have removed them by April 15.
John Festa asked about the possibility of getting volunteers to put flags on the Veterans' graves.
Amy Janca simply, without requesting any recognition, inserted herself into the discussion here.
Zoning Commission: Nothing to report. Likewise the BZA.
Nick Ehlert, Zoning Commission member: We are working on a historical tour in the township. It is difficult to learn when a house was built.
[Note: Nick is a self-proclaimed history junkie. He is also a member of the Mantua Village Landmarks Commission and has worked on a tour of historic homes in the Village. It has been well received.]
Jason: Every few years we review our zoning fee schedule. Checking with Bob Stehli, there may be an applicant pulling the BZA hearing application. That fee is $425.00, and there was some discussion about the application being pulled before the hearing.
Pete: I helped him fill out two applications and thought keeping $45.00 for that madesense.
Vic: I think an appllication fee should be charged.
Vic reported for the road crew: they were out today along with everyone else, and the backhoe is back.
John Festa: I have gotten notice of the charges.
Vic: I don't think we should pay that right away.
JF: They never even called us with the estimate.
Vic: Hold it until the next meeting.
Blogger: At this point, John Festa announced that Terrie Nielsen was here with information about the school building. That was covered in the previous post.
Following the discussion with Terrie, John Festa reported that 9 bids had been received for the Civic Center Roof. The bids were opened, but the suggestion was made that the trustees get copies of them and go over them before the next meeting, rather than trying to do it on the spot.
There was discussion about the township cleanup day, which is May 5 from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. or until the dumpsters are full.
Vic: I received an e-mail and some paperwork for the water damage at the school. They approved $44,584 for the damage. They will hold back $4,271 because of the way the policy is written. In case they missed anything, they would pay the difference out of that money. They will send us a check for $39,817.22.
The cleanup crew got $14,815.97 out of that.
At this point, Jason brought up the situation that Matt Roosa identified regarding the clothing giveaway and the issues the storage presented. That was covered in a previous post.
After that, John Festa brought up the licensing agreement.
Vic: I talked to her today. The holdup is the bank. They are supposed to close real shortly. The bank seems to think they can work around it.
John Festa: OK. We will let it go until the next meeting.
Vic: I will let her know.
Public comment was next. It was pretty short. Your faithful blogger was first off. It was very hard to hear the recording--lots of ambient noise--so this is not a verbatim transcript, but the sum and substance are correct.
Carole Pollard, 5359 Allyn Road: This is about the website. Is it completely gone? [I think that was the word. At the previous meeting John Festa mentioned that it was stagnant.]
JF: We did finally get a response from Brent. HJe said he is not active with this [activity] any more. I asked him to send a letter [about that].
CP: So is there anything we put on it, like the videos?
JF: The videos go directly to the website. It runs on its own. We do want to get that website up ASAP. We are waiting for him to send us a letter and . . . so we can get into it. We will figure out something. [In the area indicated by the dots, what John Festa said got lost, but it seems, in context, to be whatever is necessary for someone to be able to access our own website.]
CP: I also have a public records request. I am not sure how far back the UAN records go, but I would like to see how much income has been brought in by the annex. I think the rentals started about 2010 but I don't know how far back the records go. It doesn't have to be super detailed--it could be year by year.
Jodie: Do you want the income from when we were renting classrooms [for the dance studios]?
CP: Whatever you have.
Jan Oros, Wayne Road: I know that at the bullpen the access road [Vic: The original one] has been closed. But it still looks as if someone pulls in on the side parallel to S.R. 82.
[Amy Janca, as is her habit, inserted herself here]: I will have Jim Aldrich go out and take another look. We had trouble when we were excavating; they should not be pulling off the highway.
[At this point it became Amy Janca's public comment, about how people were driving through the mud and not staying on the driveway. (That may be the mail carrier.)] [Then there is this note, and I do not know who made the comment. It sounds maybe like Vic: The width is probably pretty much what it always was.]
Terrie Nielsen: On behalf of the Board of Elections, I brought little pamphlets for people who are interested in working as pol workers. We are looking for people on May 8. They get paid--they are not volunteers.
Jason: What is the pay? [This got Jason a little ribbing, as if he was checking to see about getting a part time job as a poll worker. I didn't really hear the good-natured comment, but there was a general chuckle.]
TN: It is $120 for the day and $20 for the training.
Linda Ehlert, Center Road: This is a quick question regarding the historical society. We are starting to open and work, with the nice weather. It is dark up thee. I wondered if we could remove the fan and install a fan with a light in it. Also, the lights in the ceiling. We wondered if we bought a new fan and could we put LED lights in?
Vic: ou can install LEDs in the track lilghts.
Nick Ehlert and Terry Hronek had no comment.
Dave Pollard: I wanted to thank Terrie Nielsen for all the work she has done in raising money for every project at the school and then her doggedness for seeing it through. I also want to thank Sue Skrovan for helping everyone work through the Byzantine workings of the whole thing.
Sunday, April 15, 2018
4- 5-18 Trustees: Terrie Nielsen re Elevator & Bell Tower
[Foreword: There were the usual preliminary things: Zoning Commission, departmental reports. Although not unimportant, they were routine. This whole post will be only on the above topic--all 10 pages of my notes.]
John Festa: Terrie Nielsen is here to discuss some business with the school.
Jason: Thanks for coming.
TN: I am not sure how much background you want on this. I received a call from Jason after our meeting at Regional Planning regarding the money still owed on the elevator project.
The request was made that I see if additional money can be obtained from the state capital funds on the elevator project. When I contacted the state, they said that can be done.
Then I talked to Eric Hummel about the bell tower. If more money is needed for the elevator it would come from money set aside for the bell tower.
I notified Marty Snow [Eric Hummel's project manager/foreman] who sent me an e-mail that there was potentially money available from the county that could help with the elevator project. Last Tuesday a meeting occurred at Neighborhood Development Services (NDS).
My first question was whether it was a grant or a loan because we can not get a loan. It is a grant
There is a pool of money that is often left over from CDBG projects. They have $100,000 in that pool. Regional Planning was there and they were all about getting this money for the elevator find. What will be presented to the commissioners next week will be a request for $42,000.
The gentleman in charge of NDS would tell the commissioners that he approved. I am sure Regional Planning will be there with bells on. The $42,000 is to go to pay the balance owed to James Martin and I believe also money owed to the electrical contractor. It should also cover the fire relay. They seemed to think it was like a no-brainer
Ken Parker was to schedule the meeting with the commissioners. I am assuming he did that.
[Blogger: Two things here. First, Ken is one of the people on the task force working to develop a workable community center agreement to use the school building. He is the point person on the task force for determining what physical improvements are needed for the school to become more and more usable. Second, as of April 14, it was not clear what had been done about scheduling the meeting with the commissioners.]
TN, continuing: With the $42,000, that sort of solves all of the elevator issues. I am going to encourage Regional Planning to tell James Martin [the contractor on the elevator] and the electrical contractor that it needs to be done by June 30.
[The reason for that deadline--maybe, at last, a final one--is that the money will no longer be available after that date and must, in fact, all be paid out by then, if I have that part right.]
TN: The final satisfactory inspection has to be done by that time.
That brings us to the next issue, which is the bell tower. $57,000 is what was set aside for the bell tower. The contract with Hummel is for $62,000. With the money from the commissioners, based on my understanding of what the trustees have indicated in the past, there should be enough from the $10,000-$20,000 set aside by the township to pay the difference.
I talked to Marty at Hummel and he said it is a 45-day project. I brought the contract today for you to sign so I can get this in motion. It looks like we are in good shape. It looks as if there should be in the township accounts a little over $9800 in the state capital fund not distribuited to the contractors. That money needs to be paid, and I don't care who gets it. The state will want to know the money has been disbursed.
JC: According to our account number, 4902-- [he went through the numbers. Your faithful blogger is not going to attempt to detail all of that in this meeting--and there is a lot more discussion about specific dollar amounts to come.]
JC: There is zero money in that fund right now. Everything has been distributed that we got from the state.
TN: That should total $68,000 plus.
JC: I have the appropriation report here, and it is zeroed out because we used it to pay James Martin. Unless you are looking at an old balance sheet, there should be zero dollars in that account.
TN: My numbers come from Lisa Reeves [in Regional Planning] and there is a discrepancy of about $9800.
Vic clarified some of the numbers.
JC: As soon as the inspection is done, the state will release the $21,000.
TN: The fact that there is a difference is part of what is sticking in the craw of Regional Planning because they are of the opinion that (it seems) the township is holding money.
At this point, Jason turned to Jodie Thompson and reviewed her figures.
Jodie asked Vic when that was done.
Vic: That was our $10,000 that we had committed and we had added some. There should have been $30,000 in the township accounts. $35,000 was appropriated but not all . . . .[Blogger: I have the dots in my notes and a question mark about what his next word or words were. It was 7:50, and at this point Jim Aldrich and Larry Leitzow left. Pete Tosi left a couple of minutes later.]
[At this point Terrie Nielsen went up to the table and she, Vic, and Sue Skrovan worked with Jason getting an understanding of it. Even if your faithful blogger had been at the table, I am not sure I would have been able to follow all of it. Sue Skrovan--remember, is the Hiram Village clerk. John Festa sat and looked on.]
John Festa: This isn't getting any clearer.
TN: $42,000 should cover what is remaining owed to James Martin and Kozma and the $15,000 for the fire system.
JC: Lisa Reeves' numbers are right. I went through them about three times.
[John Festa got involved regarding the fire system. I could not tell whether he was saying $1600 or sixty hundred, but on reflection, it was probably $1600. But the number that has been mentioned usually is $15,000. He went back to his argument about our not havingsigned or approved anything.]
TN: I understand your concern.
JF: We never approved any of it.
TN: You have two or three options..
1: You can either fire James Martin and hire another contractor who will not be willing to to take on a project that is almost done, and you sue James Martin. But the project must be done by June 30th and the township must pay all of it back [if it is not done.]
JF: I can't see making any decision to take away from the bell tower. Get the money for the bell tower and pay for it. The elevator project is so convoluted that we neet to put it over here and do the bell tower separately.
James Martin needs to honor his contract.
TN: I don't disagree that the thing with James Martin is a complete mess. And I don't disagree with taking the two separately. If the trustees do not have the funds to pay the difference between the $57,000 and the $62,000, I can probably find the funding.
My concern is that from all of the numbers I have looked at, even though the township said they would pay $10,000, they have paid nothing. But MaRSI [the restoration society], a 501 c 3, has paid $33,000.
I am here asking you to sign the contract with Hummel so we can begin. It is a 45-day project. Some of the things required have to be custom made. I have that contract tosign so wecan begin.
Second, it is important, you being township trustees, to get the $42,000 from the commissioners. That will pay what is owed and complete the project. Then you are done with the elevator. Nothing is going to go forward with the building until that fucking [[yes, she said it full out, no punch pulled] elevator is done. Obviously we are going to badmouth the daylights out of James Martin.
JF: The agreement was with the commissioners and James Martin. He never performed any of those stipulations but he never performed any of them. [Blogger: There were stipulations to the contractor in the contract that he was never held to and did not live up to, as I understand it.]
TN: Who was in charge of the contract was Regional Planning.
JF: I want to explain my position so if you are asked you can say. We never agreed to anything with Regional Planning--it is all in the contract.
[OK, dear reader, do you remember, back in the mists of time when we were trying to decide about accepting the CDBG and Cal Brant got us a guarantee so we could accept the grant, that both Jason and John Festa said they were completely behind this project? I forget if John Festa put a percentage to his support, but Jason said "110%." Despite his past behavior, which has often seemed pretty lukewarm, he was fully engaged in this conversation. Vic Grimm, Terrie Nielsen were likewise all in, and Jodie was at least paying close attention.]
TN: Which adds to the argument to get the money from the commissioners. If you want to sue James Martin later, go ahead.
JF: If my company did work like that. . . . The construction on the elevator is horrible.
TN: I don't think it does the township a service and move things forward to finish the project. . . . A lot of the time people say it is the principle of the thing. I don't disagree but principles are expensive.
Get the $42,000 and finish the project.
JC: I havelooked at these about a thousand times. I will go on the record as saying that when I looked at the report, it had three columns. On this our fund balance, we are misinterpreting our expenditures and fund balance. [He explained how they had been interpreting the information.]
For some reason we must have had a bill for $761.
Vic: One was for the elevator company [Canton Elevator] for about $300 and something; the other was the air conditioner.
JC: So we have in this fund, partially part of our ten grand, we have a total of __?__ [I missed the correct number]. So that is what you can spend.
[Jason went through some more of the figures.]
JC: We should write him a check and zero out this account. He is still going to complain about the $17,500.
TN: Let me make a suggestion. If the commissioners give the township $42,000, the money is going to go to Regional Planning. It is not coming to your bank account. Let Lisa Reeves pay James Martin rather than the trustees.
[There was more discussion about where various "patches" of money came/come from.]
Sue Skrovan: Pay Kozma Electric first and get it paid and then pay James Martin out of what is left.
TN: I don't disagree but if you pay X out to James Martin, I guess my suggestion is you get the $42,000.
[Jason asked a question about that which I cannot decipher from the tiny marginal note I made.]
TN: The money is just sitting there. Lisa Reeves has all the paperwork and then you are keeping money that you can use on another project or the bell tower. That is what makes sense to me.
JC: Keep the $10,000.
TN: Listen, you have it over to the school. [This statement has to be a slight miswriting on my part; Terrie always makes more sense than this looks like.] The stairs need to be replaced; there is plenty that we can spend $10,000 on. This is grant money--it is free--we do have to pay anything back.
Vic: I think we should wait until next week and see what happens with the $42,00.
JC: When we commit to something, we commit.
TN: Ifyou can get free money, why spend township's because we can put it into the state's.
Vic: But there is nothing to say there won't be an overrun on the bell tower.
Terrie, going up to the table: No, no. It says right here, "Not to exceed."
Vic sat back and said, "Well, there you go" [Or something pretty close to that.]
JC: But we still have to get him to do his work.
JF: I would suggest--Terrie's suggestion to give the money to Regional Planning, and they handle it.
TN: She went back to the table and presented and explained a little about the bell tower contract.
Vic: I make a resolution that we enter into a contract with Humel Construction for the bell tower, not to exceed $57,000.
JC: Second.
TN: $57,000 is coming from the state.
[The vote in favor was unanimous.]
Terrie will physically handle the contract so it gets to Hummel.
TN: I can not go to the meeting because I have some work place conflict with the commissioners but I understand that there will be people there on behalf of Mantua Township. I just need to hear from Ken Parker to get iton the agenda. It will probably be Thursday. [Note: That meeting did not get scheduled for the following Thursday. Stay tuned.]
TN: We have a proposal from Elwin Robison for $3500 [for a plan for the envelope of the building.] I am working on that.
Also, we applied to the state capital fund; there is a rumor that we are getting $75,000, but I have not heardfrom Eklund yet. Hopefully we can do something like windows.
JF: Or the roof.
TN: Not sure about that.
Vic: [It is] something that needs to be looked into.
That concluded Terrie Nielsen's work with the trustees this night, and she got a round of applause from everyone in the audience plus Vic.
Blogger: I will come back to the few things remaining, including public comment, in another post. For now, I have enjoyed as much of this as I can stand.
John Festa: Terrie Nielsen is here to discuss some business with the school.
Jason: Thanks for coming.
TN: I am not sure how much background you want on this. I received a call from Jason after our meeting at Regional Planning regarding the money still owed on the elevator project.
The request was made that I see if additional money can be obtained from the state capital funds on the elevator project. When I contacted the state, they said that can be done.
Then I talked to Eric Hummel about the bell tower. If more money is needed for the elevator it would come from money set aside for the bell tower.
I notified Marty Snow [Eric Hummel's project manager/foreman] who sent me an e-mail that there was potentially money available from the county that could help with the elevator project. Last Tuesday a meeting occurred at Neighborhood Development Services (NDS).
My first question was whether it was a grant or a loan because we can not get a loan. It is a grant
There is a pool of money that is often left over from CDBG projects. They have $100,000 in that pool. Regional Planning was there and they were all about getting this money for the elevator find. What will be presented to the commissioners next week will be a request for $42,000.
The gentleman in charge of NDS would tell the commissioners that he approved. I am sure Regional Planning will be there with bells on. The $42,000 is to go to pay the balance owed to James Martin and I believe also money owed to the electrical contractor. It should also cover the fire relay. They seemed to think it was like a no-brainer
Ken Parker was to schedule the meeting with the commissioners. I am assuming he did that.
[Blogger: Two things here. First, Ken is one of the people on the task force working to develop a workable community center agreement to use the school building. He is the point person on the task force for determining what physical improvements are needed for the school to become more and more usable. Second, as of April 14, it was not clear what had been done about scheduling the meeting with the commissioners.]
TN, continuing: With the $42,000, that sort of solves all of the elevator issues. I am going to encourage Regional Planning to tell James Martin [the contractor on the elevator] and the electrical contractor that it needs to be done by June 30.
[The reason for that deadline--maybe, at last, a final one--is that the money will no longer be available after that date and must, in fact, all be paid out by then, if I have that part right.]
TN: The final satisfactory inspection has to be done by that time.
That brings us to the next issue, which is the bell tower. $57,000 is what was set aside for the bell tower. The contract with Hummel is for $62,000. With the money from the commissioners, based on my understanding of what the trustees have indicated in the past, there should be enough from the $10,000-$20,000 set aside by the township to pay the difference.
I talked to Marty at Hummel and he said it is a 45-day project. I brought the contract today for you to sign so I can get this in motion. It looks like we are in good shape. It looks as if there should be in the township accounts a little over $9800 in the state capital fund not distribuited to the contractors. That money needs to be paid, and I don't care who gets it. The state will want to know the money has been disbursed.
JC: According to our account number, 4902-- [he went through the numbers. Your faithful blogger is not going to attempt to detail all of that in this meeting--and there is a lot more discussion about specific dollar amounts to come.]
JC: There is zero money in that fund right now. Everything has been distributed that we got from the state.
TN: That should total $68,000 plus.
JC: I have the appropriation report here, and it is zeroed out because we used it to pay James Martin. Unless you are looking at an old balance sheet, there should be zero dollars in that account.
TN: My numbers come from Lisa Reeves [in Regional Planning] and there is a discrepancy of about $9800.
Vic clarified some of the numbers.
JC: As soon as the inspection is done, the state will release the $21,000.
TN: The fact that there is a difference is part of what is sticking in the craw of Regional Planning because they are of the opinion that (it seems) the township is holding money.
At this point, Jason turned to Jodie Thompson and reviewed her figures.
Jodie asked Vic when that was done.
Vic: That was our $10,000 that we had committed and we had added some. There should have been $30,000 in the township accounts. $35,000 was appropriated but not all . . . .[Blogger: I have the dots in my notes and a question mark about what his next word or words were. It was 7:50, and at this point Jim Aldrich and Larry Leitzow left. Pete Tosi left a couple of minutes later.]
[At this point Terrie Nielsen went up to the table and she, Vic, and Sue Skrovan worked with Jason getting an understanding of it. Even if your faithful blogger had been at the table, I am not sure I would have been able to follow all of it. Sue Skrovan--remember, is the Hiram Village clerk. John Festa sat and looked on.]
John Festa: This isn't getting any clearer.
TN: $42,000 should cover what is remaining owed to James Martin and Kozma and the $15,000 for the fire system.
JC: Lisa Reeves' numbers are right. I went through them about three times.
[John Festa got involved regarding the fire system. I could not tell whether he was saying $1600 or sixty hundred, but on reflection, it was probably $1600. But the number that has been mentioned usually is $15,000. He went back to his argument about our not havingsigned or approved anything.]
TN: I understand your concern.
JF: We never approved any of it.
TN: You have two or three options..
1: You can either fire James Martin and hire another contractor who will not be willing to to take on a project that is almost done, and you sue James Martin. But the project must be done by June 30th and the township must pay all of it back [if it is not done.]
JF: I can't see making any decision to take away from the bell tower. Get the money for the bell tower and pay for it. The elevator project is so convoluted that we neet to put it over here and do the bell tower separately.
James Martin needs to honor his contract.
TN: I don't disagree that the thing with James Martin is a complete mess. And I don't disagree with taking the two separately. If the trustees do not have the funds to pay the difference between the $57,000 and the $62,000, I can probably find the funding.
My concern is that from all of the numbers I have looked at, even though the township said they would pay $10,000, they have paid nothing. But MaRSI [the restoration society], a 501 c 3, has paid $33,000.
I am here asking you to sign the contract with Hummel so we can begin. It is a 45-day project. Some of the things required have to be custom made. I have that contract tosign so wecan begin.
Second, it is important, you being township trustees, to get the $42,000 from the commissioners. That will pay what is owed and complete the project. Then you are done with the elevator. Nothing is going to go forward with the building until that fucking [[yes, she said it full out, no punch pulled] elevator is done. Obviously we are going to badmouth the daylights out of James Martin.
JF: The agreement was with the commissioners and James Martin. He never performed any of those stipulations but he never performed any of them. [Blogger: There were stipulations to the contractor in the contract that he was never held to and did not live up to, as I understand it.]
TN: Who was in charge of the contract was Regional Planning.
JF: I want to explain my position so if you are asked you can say. We never agreed to anything with Regional Planning--it is all in the contract.
[OK, dear reader, do you remember, back in the mists of time when we were trying to decide about accepting the CDBG and Cal Brant got us a guarantee so we could accept the grant, that both Jason and John Festa said they were completely behind this project? I forget if John Festa put a percentage to his support, but Jason said "110%." Despite his past behavior, which has often seemed pretty lukewarm, he was fully engaged in this conversation. Vic Grimm, Terrie Nielsen were likewise all in, and Jodie was at least paying close attention.]
TN: Which adds to the argument to get the money from the commissioners. If you want to sue James Martin later, go ahead.
JF: If my company did work like that. . . . The construction on the elevator is horrible.
TN: I don't think it does the township a service and move things forward to finish the project. . . . A lot of the time people say it is the principle of the thing. I don't disagree but principles are expensive.
Get the $42,000 and finish the project.
JC: I havelooked at these about a thousand times. I will go on the record as saying that when I looked at the report, it had three columns. On this our fund balance, we are misinterpreting our expenditures and fund balance. [He explained how they had been interpreting the information.]
For some reason we must have had a bill for $761.
Vic: One was for the elevator company [Canton Elevator] for about $300 and something; the other was the air conditioner.
JC: So we have in this fund, partially part of our ten grand, we have a total of __?__ [I missed the correct number]. So that is what you can spend.
[Jason went through some more of the figures.]
JC: We should write him a check and zero out this account. He is still going to complain about the $17,500.
TN: Let me make a suggestion. If the commissioners give the township $42,000, the money is going to go to Regional Planning. It is not coming to your bank account. Let Lisa Reeves pay James Martin rather than the trustees.
[There was more discussion about where various "patches" of money came/come from.]
Sue Skrovan: Pay Kozma Electric first and get it paid and then pay James Martin out of what is left.
TN: I don't disagree but if you pay X out to James Martin, I guess my suggestion is you get the $42,000.
[Jason asked a question about that which I cannot decipher from the tiny marginal note I made.]
TN: The money is just sitting there. Lisa Reeves has all the paperwork and then you are keeping money that you can use on another project or the bell tower. That is what makes sense to me.
JC: Keep the $10,000.
TN: Listen, you have it over to the school. [This statement has to be a slight miswriting on my part; Terrie always makes more sense than this looks like.] The stairs need to be replaced; there is plenty that we can spend $10,000 on. This is grant money--it is free--we do have to pay anything back.
Vic: I think we should wait until next week and see what happens with the $42,00.
JC: When we commit to something, we commit.
TN: Ifyou can get free money, why spend township's because we can put it into the state's.
Vic: But there is nothing to say there won't be an overrun on the bell tower.
Terrie, going up to the table: No, no. It says right here, "Not to exceed."
Vic sat back and said, "Well, there you go" [Or something pretty close to that.]
JC: But we still have to get him to do his work.
JF: I would suggest--Terrie's suggestion to give the money to Regional Planning, and they handle it.
TN: She went back to the table and presented and explained a little about the bell tower contract.
Vic: I make a resolution that we enter into a contract with Humel Construction for the bell tower, not to exceed $57,000.
JC: Second.
TN: $57,000 is coming from the state.
[The vote in favor was unanimous.]
Terrie will physically handle the contract so it gets to Hummel.
TN: I can not go to the meeting because I have some work place conflict with the commissioners but I understand that there will be people there on behalf of Mantua Township. I just need to hear from Ken Parker to get iton the agenda. It will probably be Thursday. [Note: That meeting did not get scheduled for the following Thursday. Stay tuned.]
TN: We have a proposal from Elwin Robison for $3500 [for a plan for the envelope of the building.] I am working on that.
Also, we applied to the state capital fund; there is a rumor that we are getting $75,000, but I have not heardfrom Eklund yet. Hopefully we can do something like windows.
JF: Or the roof.
TN: Not sure about that.
Vic: [It is] something that needs to be looked into.
That concluded Terrie Nielsen's work with the trustees this night, and she got a round of applause from everyone in the audience plus Vic.
Blogger: I will come back to the few things remaining, including public comment, in another post. For now, I have enjoyed as much of this as I can stand.
Saturday, April 14, 2018
More About Clothing Giveaway
[Blogger Foreword: Dottie Summerlin sent me this via the e-mail connected to the blog and asked me to send it out. I am happy to do that but am computer inept enough that if there is an easy way to do it, I don't know what it is. So Dottie's message follows.]
It is with great sadness that Nancy Tafel & I are suspending the free Clothing Giveaway until we can find another venue. We have limited space in the 2 small rooms we rent for the Giveaway & we have been using a larger room for sorting/hanging up/storage. We have been asked not to use the large room due to a non-functional fire escape. Thus, since we cannot possibly accommodate our many clients in 2 tiny rooms --75-100 in one Giveawayh--we must look for a new home.
We are looking for a space that would be on one level--no steps, but an elevator would be OK (ironic, isn't it?) We need at least 1200 sq. feet, 1500 would be ideal. We currently pay $976.00 a year for the 2 small rooms. We take in no money other than the 8 cents per pound from the St. Paulie bin alongside Mantua Center Christian Church which are the bags of clothes that are not taken at the Giveaway. If you, or anyone you know, may have a space for us, please pass along my email or Nancy's email: nursenancylpn@aol.com
We feel this ministry is vital to Mantua & the surrounding communities so we need to find a place ASAP. The next Giveaway was scheduled for Saturday, May 19th, after that July 21, Sept. 15, & Nov. 17th.
Thank you!
Dottie Summerlin
[Dottie's email: drs52652@gmail.com]
It is with great sadness that Nancy Tafel & I are suspending the free Clothing Giveaway until we can find another venue. We have limited space in the 2 small rooms we rent for the Giveaway & we have been using a larger room for sorting/hanging up/storage. We have been asked not to use the large room due to a non-functional fire escape. Thus, since we cannot possibly accommodate our many clients in 2 tiny rooms --75-100 in one Giveawayh--we must look for a new home.
We are looking for a space that would be on one level--no steps, but an elevator would be OK (ironic, isn't it?) We need at least 1200 sq. feet, 1500 would be ideal. We currently pay $976.00 a year for the 2 small rooms. We take in no money other than the 8 cents per pound from the St. Paulie bin alongside Mantua Center Christian Church which are the bags of clothes that are not taken at the Giveaway. If you, or anyone you know, may have a space for us, please pass along my email or Nancy's email: nursenancylpn@aol.com
We feel this ministry is vital to Mantua & the surrounding communities so we need to find a place ASAP. The next Giveaway was scheduled for Saturday, May 19th, after that July 21, Sept. 15, & Nov. 17th.
Thank you!
Dottie Summerlin
[Dottie's email: drs52652@gmail.com]
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
News about the Clothing Giveaway
[Blogger Foreword: The greatest part of the April 5 trustees meeting was the discussion between Grants and Funding Committee chairperson Terrie Nielsen and the trustees about the status of the elevator and bell tower projects. That was lengthy and will be its own post. The topic of this post is shorter, and as I understand it, various things are already floating around about it.
[Here is what happened in the April 5 trustees meeting regarding the clothing giveaway.]
Jason: [This is about] Matt Roosa (MSFD Chief) regardiong the fire recall system. [I am/we are] trying to get everyone on the same page.
He went yesterday and I got a message from him to call. He wanted to meet at the school. There seems to be another reason. I went today with Vic.
We have some serious issues with the clothing giveaway space. For one thing, they are utilizing the east room, and clothes are stacked 4 feet high along the walls. We are not even renting that room to them--they are just using it.
Matt Roosa said that is an extreme fire load for the building. They must abandon that room and we have to notify Nancy Tafel that they have to abandon that room. It is a situation that there is so much stuff in the room that there is only one way to get out and the escape stairs are not built yet.
They are utilizing the two adjoining rooms and then things started to spill out. Carts were put in the hall but that is not acceptable.
Vic: Later today I talked with Matt Roosa about exit lights and smoke detectors. [By the way, if you need smoke detectors, go to the Fire Department.]
Jason: I don't think the two rooms they have now are too overly loaded, but I don't want this to be that they can't use the room. . . .
Vic: The one door was just installed because of the elevator. I will remove that. I would like to use the credit card for stamps and some other supplies. (Betsy Wolfe needs some of these things for working on the zoning.)
John Festa: We don't want to get on the wrong side of the Fire Department.
Vic: He is doing his job.
John Festa: If he had been doing official work, it would have been different.
[Blogger: My understanding of that comment is that if Matt's visit to the school had been an official inspection, we would have a serious issue on our hands. As it is, he was there for something else, saw this problem, and advised us about it.]
The meeting moved on to other things at this point.
[Here is what happened in the April 5 trustees meeting regarding the clothing giveaway.]
Jason: [This is about] Matt Roosa (MSFD Chief) regardiong the fire recall system. [I am/we are] trying to get everyone on the same page.
He went yesterday and I got a message from him to call. He wanted to meet at the school. There seems to be another reason. I went today with Vic.
We have some serious issues with the clothing giveaway space. For one thing, they are utilizing the east room, and clothes are stacked 4 feet high along the walls. We are not even renting that room to them--they are just using it.
Matt Roosa said that is an extreme fire load for the building. They must abandon that room and we have to notify Nancy Tafel that they have to abandon that room. It is a situation that there is so much stuff in the room that there is only one way to get out and the escape stairs are not built yet.
They are utilizing the two adjoining rooms and then things started to spill out. Carts were put in the hall but that is not acceptable.
Vic: Later today I talked with Matt Roosa about exit lights and smoke detectors. [By the way, if you need smoke detectors, go to the Fire Department.]
Jason: I don't think the two rooms they have now are too overly loaded, but I don't want this to be that they can't use the room. . . .
Vic: The one door was just installed because of the elevator. I will remove that. I would like to use the credit card for stamps and some other supplies. (Betsy Wolfe needs some of these things for working on the zoning.)
John Festa: We don't want to get on the wrong side of the Fire Department.
Vic: He is doing his job.
John Festa: If he had been doing official work, it would have been different.
[Blogger: My understanding of that comment is that if Matt's visit to the school had been an official inspection, we would have a serious issue on our hands. As it is, he was there for something else, saw this problem, and advised us about it.]
The meeting moved on to other things at this point.
"Bulletin Board" : Restoration Soc. Annual Meeting; Cleanup Day
Annual Meeting, The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc.
The annual meeting of The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., is Saturday, April 28, at the Mantua Center School building, 11741 Mantua Center Road.
Time: Gather at noon for light refreshments.
The meeting will begin at 1:00 to hear a summary of the past year and elect officers for 2018.
Terrie Vechery has agreed to be the speaker. This looked like a good time to discuss how we got here, where we are, and where we are planning/hoping to go. "We" actually applies to the school building. Terrie is the person with the continuity of experience to give that overview.
After the meeting and the speaker, members can re-join, new members can get on board, and additional donations from those who are so moved will be enthusiastically welcomed.
As always, we will share potluck and fellowship after the regular meeting. It may be possible to take a peek at the elevator installation to date, but that will depend on what safety regulations permit.
Everyone is welcome. The school belongs to the township--meaning it belongs to all of us, and we are finally approaching being able to begin using it as was envisioned when the trustees purchased it in 2004.
It has been a long haul, but a lot has been accomplished, and you--member of the restoration society or not--have contributed to that by attending restoration society events, being members, or donating to the cause..
Come and celebrate--and maybe it will be spring by then.
Township Cleanup Day
Saturday, May 5, is the annual Township Cleanup Day. It will run from 7:30 a.m. til 3:00 or when the dumpsters are full, whatever comes first.
Place: Just across the road from the Township Garage on Mantua Center Road.
Tires can be dropped off at --I think-- no charge. In the past, if there was a charge, it was $2.00 per tire.
Some guidelines: No kitchen trash--meaning no garbage.
Come prepared to help unload your vehicle or trailer. There has been some joking about advising people load a trailer with all kinds of heavy stuff and then sending the oldest, feeblest member of the family to bring it to the site to be unloaded by others.
I believe that traffic will be one way from the Pioneer Trail intersection and routed north on Center Road for the safety of the people working around the dumpsters. There will be equipment working as well as people on foot. Everyone is concentrating on the trash and the dumpsters, not on some self-centered jerk bulling south on Center Road because s/he is angry that for one day a year traffic is one way for part of the day.
That last snarky comment is based on the experience of working at the Diagonal Road/Center Road intersection to keep people from heading south. You would have thought we were asking them to give blood or sacrifice a child, or something. Sheesh!
The annual meeting of The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., is Saturday, April 28, at the Mantua Center School building, 11741 Mantua Center Road.
Time: Gather at noon for light refreshments.
The meeting will begin at 1:00 to hear a summary of the past year and elect officers for 2018.
Terrie Vechery has agreed to be the speaker. This looked like a good time to discuss how we got here, where we are, and where we are planning/hoping to go. "We" actually applies to the school building. Terrie is the person with the continuity of experience to give that overview.
After the meeting and the speaker, members can re-join, new members can get on board, and additional donations from those who are so moved will be enthusiastically welcomed.
As always, we will share potluck and fellowship after the regular meeting. It may be possible to take a peek at the elevator installation to date, but that will depend on what safety regulations permit.
Everyone is welcome. The school belongs to the township--meaning it belongs to all of us, and we are finally approaching being able to begin using it as was envisioned when the trustees purchased it in 2004.
It has been a long haul, but a lot has been accomplished, and you--member of the restoration society or not--have contributed to that by attending restoration society events, being members, or donating to the cause..
Come and celebrate--and maybe it will be spring by then.
Township Cleanup Day
Saturday, May 5, is the annual Township Cleanup Day. It will run from 7:30 a.m. til 3:00 or when the dumpsters are full, whatever comes first.
Place: Just across the road from the Township Garage on Mantua Center Road.
Tires can be dropped off at --I think-- no charge. In the past, if there was a charge, it was $2.00 per tire.
Some guidelines: No kitchen trash--meaning no garbage.
Come prepared to help unload your vehicle or trailer. There has been some joking about advising people load a trailer with all kinds of heavy stuff and then sending the oldest, feeblest member of the family to bring it to the site to be unloaded by others.
I believe that traffic will be one way from the Pioneer Trail intersection and routed north on Center Road for the safety of the people working around the dumpsters. There will be equipment working as well as people on foot. Everyone is concentrating on the trash and the dumpsters, not on some self-centered jerk bulling south on Center Road because s/he is angry that for one day a year traffic is one way for part of the day.
That last snarky comment is based on the experience of working at the Diagonal Road/Center Road intersection to keep people from heading south. You would have thought we were asking them to give blood or sacrifice a child, or something. Sheesh!
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