I suppose stranger, more unlikely things have happened, but here's the event for today:
Late this afternoon (May 14), Dawn Pechman called me. Let me make this perfectly clear: It can be claimed that we talked. We exchanged comments for maybe five minutes.
Was it friendly? No.
Did we agree on anything? See the answer above.
Was any connection or sisterhood established between us? Are you nuts?
Any claims elsewhere that any of the above happened are bogus. Bo-o-o-gus, to quote the Car Talk guys.
I don't record my phone conversations, so this is a report, not a transcript, but it will cover the nuts and bolts of it--for the record.
Dawn wanted to talk with me about the state of the township, which has her concerned, she said. She has only ever wanted to help the township, she said. Right.
I said there was nothing I wanted to talk with her about.
She persisted: knows I don't like her and doesn't understand why, I believe was among the statements.
She told me that I am a strong woman. She is opinionated. I am opinionated.
We both ran for trustee last year. She ran for trustee in 2005 and I opposed her, but she doesn't know why. Again, I believe that was the sum and substance of that statement.
Do you see the footwork here? It's straight out of negotiations 101: establish common ground. I watched her try to do that with John O'Neil, who was the judge or magistrate when Mantua Village took Dawn to court not only for failing to pay her Village income tax, but also for not keeping her earlier promise to pay up if they would just not sue her. She reminded John O'Neil that she had been in his court before. Right. He was the judge who signed the eviction notice and labeled Dawn a squatter in all of the mess over her parents' house, which was lost to liens in a dispute between Dawn and her brother after their mother died. I doubt that John O'Neil needed to be reminded of who Dawn was, much less that the reminder would establish some kind of camaraderie between them.
Somewhere in there I told Dawn that no amount of flattery would get me to make an allegiance with her. "Allegiance" may not have been the word. Am I going to let her establish any connection with me? Again, are you nuts?
I also told her that now that she's burned all her bridges in the township by suing them, she must be desperate, to try to make a connection with me. She said she wasn't suing, it's a mandamus order. My response: I don't care what it is.
One of my comments was that I had no desire to have anything to do with anyone who had the life record that Dawn has established (resume on file in Portage County Court Records). She tried to explain that she hadn't started out at 18 like that, and I stonewalled that, too. I don't care what happened or when it started: it kept happening. I don't care about the sad story and poor me, because it's a pattern, not an event or two.
Finally, Dawn said that she was praying for the township and me.
CP: I would rather have someone else's curse than your prayers.
dp: You should listen to God. He has some good things to say. [Great things to say? Not sure of the word.]
CP: Do you talk to God?
dp: Yes.
CP: Dawn, anyone who talks to God doesn't act the way you do.
She hung up.
So--did Dawn and I talk? Technically, yes. Was it a meaningful conversation that established any common ground? Absolutely not.
Why a whole post about this? Because I have watched the spin cycle and the propaganda mill at work from my unexpected and unwelcome caller for nearly 10 years. This is a pre-emptive strike.
And besides: It should be worth a laugh or two for people who have been watching and shaking their heads in dismay and disbelief ever since Dawn chose to "help" the township starting in 2002.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
May 2 Trustees: Pointed Public Comment
Public Comment began around 9:07.
Carole Pollard, Allyn Road: I have a question about recording the meetings. John Festa, you said something about if we record the meeting, the information is ours. I don't quite understand what you mean by that. What do you mean by the information would belong to the trustees?
John Festa: It belongs to the public. It would be on the official website--our official website.
CP: OK. Then you also asked whether we were going to sacrifice roads to work on the school. How would that happen?
JF: We are struggling right now to work on the roads. If we take money out of our budget, I don't know where it is going to come from. Something has got to be sacrificed somehow. It may be roads, it may be something else--insurance, wages--I don't know.
CP: I just don't understand now how if things were so wonderful last fall during the election, they now are so dire. That's one thing.
JF: I don't understand your question. We are not a rich community. [He's just now noticing? He and Jason both?]
CP: I understand that better than you probably do.
JF: I don't think so.
CP: Well, OK, let's just deal with one thing that has come up this evening. You are willing to spend twice as much as for a regular paint job on something that is probably not recommended for historic preservation.
JF: I am not willing to spend money on anything.
CP: OK, so you are willing to let it sit here like this?
JF: No, it is not what I want. I am not willing to spend money on anything. Don't try to put words into my mouth. Don't try to read my mind.
CP: Well, that would be difficult.
At this point, Dawn Pechman, the Emily Post of the township, interrupted from the back of the room: That was impolite.
CP: So are you.
Jason: Let's move on.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: Nothing had to get sacrificed before. It was stated in a meeting that the township was in very good financial shape. Now you are looking for $300 or $400.
There was a resolution to accept an offer [to paint the building]. Are you going to back out of that? here happen to be another person or two in the township to help with the paint at a reduced price. If you are going to screw around again and turn down an offer to paint for free and then turn down a reduced price, you are going to have no credibility. You will not be able to find vendors who will work with you.
I doubt that the money allocated for the Center school project needs to be taken away because the money has been taken away foolishly.
John Festa: Look around and you will see what has been getting done.
[Eh? I believe Dave wanted examples, but John Festa's evasion of choice on these things is to ask the challenger to answer the question. Look around? OK. Lots of cosmetic stuff. Infrastructure except for roads, zip. The school building, which most intelligent people would consider a treasure, has been neglected and denigrated for a total of nearly 7 man-years: The whole time since Jason was elected, and the same since John Festa was elected. The work that has been done has been by volunteers, and Vic, and The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., paid for asbestos removal in a small portion of the basement. Any work in the east classroom, where John Dickey and Jim Aldrich have set up shop, was mostly done by them with the blessing of a blind eye from the other two trustees. Except that report had it that both of them had actually gone in and helped out a bit in that room. What happened to the mantra of "Doing it right"? And a treasury that was sound through 2011 and is now in serious trouble. At a subsequent meeting, John Festa actually said that they were shaking the seat cushions to try to find money.
And whose responsibility is that--to have gotten the township into this hole?]
Dave: You should talk to the people on Frost Road if you think things are getting done right.
Jason mentioned the county engineer.
Dave: The people back there are upset that no one talked to them about it. There is a bus driver who hates to take that road. You don't seem to hear a complaint from anyone.
[Blogger: I think that John Festa said no one had complained to him, and that is what Dave was responding to, above.]
Vic: I have had two calls this year [about Frost Road].
Dawn Pechman, Robin Park: The amount of money transferred to the town hall--that was to repair it?
Jason: The amount is because we know we will need repairs. Troy Construction and Cal Brant [gave estimates].
Dawn: So all you have done is locate money to do repairs for the free paint job. So it doesn't cover the whole thing.
I also missed Frank Horack's report.
Jason: I can't comment on that.
Dawn: Do you keep records of how much money you spend on each building? A lot of money has been spent on the garage. At what point do you go to replace rather than repair? [Blogger: OK, there's the new stall and diversion from the hostiles: We need a new garage, forget about the school.]
Dawn: Dave Pollard mentioned about the paint. Is this a lead based paint? [Blogger: Wanna bet she knows the answer to that and was just feeding this question to Jason?]
Jason: Before 1940 there was lead based paint.
John Festa: There is still a lot on the ground. It needs to be picked up.
[Blogger: I think at this point Marie interjected, "Don't eat it."]
Dawn: The light on the flagpole [in the bullpen]: Isn't that a bootleg connection from the Civic Center?
Vic: I have no comment on that, Dawn.
[I have not tried to find out where that idea came from, but no matter what Dawn calls it, Frank Horack probably did the installation, and for a fact, the township pays a bill for the electricity used there--so the insinuation that "bootleg" means getting it for nothing is baseless.]
[Mercifully, that was the end of public comment. Marie asked if the bids--all three of them--were going to be opened tonight, and Jason said it would be done after paying the bills. I did not stay for that.]
Carole Pollard, Allyn Road: I have a question about recording the meetings. John Festa, you said something about if we record the meeting, the information is ours. I don't quite understand what you mean by that. What do you mean by the information would belong to the trustees?
John Festa: It belongs to the public. It would be on the official website--our official website.
CP: OK. Then you also asked whether we were going to sacrifice roads to work on the school. How would that happen?
JF: We are struggling right now to work on the roads. If we take money out of our budget, I don't know where it is going to come from. Something has got to be sacrificed somehow. It may be roads, it may be something else--insurance, wages--I don't know.
CP: I just don't understand now how if things were so wonderful last fall during the election, they now are so dire. That's one thing.
JF: I don't understand your question. We are not a rich community. [He's just now noticing? He and Jason both?]
CP: I understand that better than you probably do.
JF: I don't think so.
CP: Well, OK, let's just deal with one thing that has come up this evening. You are willing to spend twice as much as for a regular paint job on something that is probably not recommended for historic preservation.
JF: I am not willing to spend money on anything.
CP: OK, so you are willing to let it sit here like this?
JF: No, it is not what I want. I am not willing to spend money on anything. Don't try to put words into my mouth. Don't try to read my mind.
CP: Well, that would be difficult.
At this point, Dawn Pechman, the Emily Post of the township, interrupted from the back of the room: That was impolite.
CP: So are you.
Jason: Let's move on.
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: Nothing had to get sacrificed before. It was stated in a meeting that the township was in very good financial shape. Now you are looking for $300 or $400.
There was a resolution to accept an offer [to paint the building]. Are you going to back out of that? here happen to be another person or two in the township to help with the paint at a reduced price. If you are going to screw around again and turn down an offer to paint for free and then turn down a reduced price, you are going to have no credibility. You will not be able to find vendors who will work with you.
I doubt that the money allocated for the Center school project needs to be taken away because the money has been taken away foolishly.
John Festa: Look around and you will see what has been getting done.
[Eh? I believe Dave wanted examples, but John Festa's evasion of choice on these things is to ask the challenger to answer the question. Look around? OK. Lots of cosmetic stuff. Infrastructure except for roads, zip. The school building, which most intelligent people would consider a treasure, has been neglected and denigrated for a total of nearly 7 man-years: The whole time since Jason was elected, and the same since John Festa was elected. The work that has been done has been by volunteers, and Vic, and The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., paid for asbestos removal in a small portion of the basement. Any work in the east classroom, where John Dickey and Jim Aldrich have set up shop, was mostly done by them with the blessing of a blind eye from the other two trustees. Except that report had it that both of them had actually gone in and helped out a bit in that room. What happened to the mantra of "Doing it right"? And a treasury that was sound through 2011 and is now in serious trouble. At a subsequent meeting, John Festa actually said that they were shaking the seat cushions to try to find money.
And whose responsibility is that--to have gotten the township into this hole?]
Dave: You should talk to the people on Frost Road if you think things are getting done right.
Jason mentioned the county engineer.
Dave: The people back there are upset that no one talked to them about it. There is a bus driver who hates to take that road. You don't seem to hear a complaint from anyone.
[Blogger: I think that John Festa said no one had complained to him, and that is what Dave was responding to, above.]
Vic: I have had two calls this year [about Frost Road].
Dawn Pechman, Robin Park: The amount of money transferred to the town hall--that was to repair it?
Jason: The amount is because we know we will need repairs. Troy Construction and Cal Brant [gave estimates].
Dawn: So all you have done is locate money to do repairs for the free paint job. So it doesn't cover the whole thing.
I also missed Frank Horack's report.
Jason: I can't comment on that.
Dawn: Do you keep records of how much money you spend on each building? A lot of money has been spent on the garage. At what point do you go to replace rather than repair? [Blogger: OK, there's the new stall and diversion from the hostiles: We need a new garage, forget about the school.]
Dawn: Dave Pollard mentioned about the paint. Is this a lead based paint? [Blogger: Wanna bet she knows the answer to that and was just feeding this question to Jason?]
Jason: Before 1940 there was lead based paint.
John Festa: There is still a lot on the ground. It needs to be picked up.
[Blogger: I think at this point Marie interjected, "Don't eat it."]
Dawn: The light on the flagpole [in the bullpen]: Isn't that a bootleg connection from the Civic Center?
Vic: I have no comment on that, Dawn.
[I have not tried to find out where that idea came from, but no matter what Dawn calls it, Frank Horack probably did the installation, and for a fact, the township pays a bill for the electricity used there--so the insinuation that "bootleg" means getting it for nothing is baseless.]
[Mercifully, that was the end of public comment. Marie asked if the bids--all three of them--were going to be opened tonight, and Jason said it would be done after paying the bills. I did not stay for that.]
Monday, May 12, 2014
May 1 Trustees, Pt. 2: Scrounging for $
The next item in the meeting was Township Hall updates and the work that needs to be done.
Vic: I haven't taken the doors down because every day it has rained. We are still trying to see what money is there. That is the main thing.
John Festa: I had Rhino Seal come out. They will provide us with a formal proposal. He still says it is permanent stuff, the best out there. It is twice the cost of a regular paint job with a 25-year pro-rated deal.
[Blogger: The trustees passed a resolution last fall to accept Steve Coon's offer to paint the building at no cost to the township, and Linda Ehlert negotiated a deal with Sherwin Williams to get a certain amount of paint donated and the rest at a substantial, maybe 50%, discount. It has been purchased. Readers should remember that John Festa is the same person who, after the trustees had accepted a contractor to do 3 days' worth of work on Pioneer Trail, told the contractor at the end of the second day that he wasn't needed any more. The road crew could do it. As I understand it, with all of their other jobs, the road crew took a month to finish up.
Furthermore, by the time you read to the end of this section, it will be clear just how much money we don't have--but Trustee Festa seems willing to spend twice the amount of a normal paint job, and never mind preparation of the building, to use something probably not recommended by historic preservation guidelines.]
Jason: There is $500 in Improvement of Sites for the town hall. I would like to move a couple of things.
Marie: We have $1900 unencumbered.
Jason: Asked a question on tax collection and other audit fees.
Marie: We will need more than . . . . We have used $1400 of the $2,000 available, and the state charges back.
Jason: Asked about charging back to the county for use of buildings.
Marie: They are public buildings. We can not charge them (the county).
[Blogger: Jason is now in his second term. It seems reasonable to expect that he should know what can and cannot be charged.]
Jason: Other Professional and Technical Services for the Town Hall. What are those?
Marie answered the question.. This is a contingency.
Jason asked if she could move the $1,000.
Marie: It is your budget--you can do whatever you want but in the future you will not have it [in that fund].
Various funds were examined to find money. For the most accurate information, check the minutes when they are posted after having been reviewed and approved at the May 15 meeting.
Repairs and Maintenance, Mantua Center School Building. That was the next item Jason looked at.
Marie: I am showing $1125 in that account. We use that for repairs and maintenance when the furnace goes down. I suppose we can leave that in. You don't expect anything to break down, but you can't tell.
Operating Supplies for the school building. $2500.
Jason: What comes out of this?
Marie: Cleaning supplies, light bulbs, etc.
Jason: Can we trim $1,000 out of that?
Next was contracted services. Marie said, flat out, "Don't touch that."
Part of one fund was for security (police) for the Civic Center.
Jason: Looked at a fund used for t he Civic Center repairs.
Marie: If something breaks, you need to have money in there.
Jason: We have only used 2% of the account.
Marie: One repair can be the whole $3,000.
Jason: Take $500 out of it.
The running total at this point was $6598.
Jason: That will give us a start.
There was some more discussion about this.
Marie: At different times of the year we use these things. For example, some things come due in August, and we need to have the money there until August.
Jason (to the people in the room): This is painful but it is a necessity. [Given the approach to the township finances for the past few years, doing this is a necessity. Would it be a necessity for anyone sitting at the front table? Doubtful. This isn't how Shalersville does things, and it isn't how this township did things until John Festa was elected and Jason and he could vote together.]
Jason made a motion to transfer the funds discussed to the Improvement of Sites, Town Hall fund, total to be approximately $8757.07.
Note #1: The funds from which the money was taken for this purpose are supposed to last for their designated uses until December.
Note #2: Towards the end of last year or at the very beginning of this year, the need for repairs to the township hall in preparation for painting was brought up, and a figure of at least $10,000 was cited, two estimates already having been requested and submitted. That information was ignored and nothing was appropriated. The above process is the result, with the amount found only about half of the higher bid of about $15,000.
John Festa: So we are looking to do it again on Tuesday.
Vic: If it isn't raining.
Next was road repair for 2014.
Jason: I had contacted Anthony Zumbo to see if they would be willing to put together a bid book and they agreed. Any comments?
Vic: I was just going to go ahead and try to get quotes on crack seal..
There was discussion of the cost and the roads in general.
Vic: I will call Chris Meduri to see how we should handle it. [There is $15,000 for repairs that Vic wanted clarification on.]
John Festa: I want to make sure we don't drag our feet on this so we end up in September.
Jason: A quick announcement: a meeting about focus groups will be 5/7 at 6:30p.m. [That meeting has been held and posted in the blog.]
Vic: Do you think it would be wise to see if Todd Peetz can come to that meeting?
Jason: Yes. Why don't you ask him? To Marie: Did you advertise?
Marie: I thought you were advertising.
Next was the rental agreements: Jason asked if there was anything from the insurance company.
Vic replied that it was still in their legal department.
John Festa: About recording meetings to incorporate that onto the website.
I have a couple of models [of camera] in mind. I wanted to ask Frank Horack. We will not be able to control a wireless camera. It will have to be hard wired and put on one of the poles. If it is too much of an interference, we just get a stand somewhere and run a line to a laptop. If there is no problem, I don't mind using one of these posts. I wanted to ask Frank Horack about that.
Jason reported that the school board is just beginning to record their meetings. They can have students as part of the project. Ed Judd might be a contact.
Bogden Rental, Vic: That will be filed in small claims court on Monday.
John Festa: I was hoping to have a conversation with him but tried to reach out to him but didn't get too far.
Larry Leitzow: Bogden is still out of town.
Website: There was some discussion about what to put onto it. The 2014 budget could be posted under "Documents--Budget."
John Festa: I would like to get the pictures for the service department [road crew] updated. [As of the May 1 meeting, the website still had photos of three workers, despite one having been let go at least a month and a half ago. I asked Brian and Dan to take some pictures. I don't know how you [to Jason and Vic] want to handle that.
Vic said he wants to look at it.
Jason: Brent Simon does some photography at an hourly rate and was gracious enough to come to the garage.
Vic: I can take the pictures. I will get them.
[Blogger: "Gracious" and "For Pay" do not come out of the same slot.]
John Festa: I would like the residents to know what we are doing. I don't know if there is a space where they can give you a schedule [of projects and planning].
Brent Simon: Yes. [Note: If you are a little new either to the blog or the township, Brent is the webmaster. He also video records the meetings for posting on a private website that is often mistaken for the township's site.]
John Festa, continuing: The bull pen--we have a flagpole without a flag.
Vic: It has been taken care of.
JF: Are we ever going to get a light?
Vic: I can hook it up. The flags are on their way. I will donate a flag for the administration [school] building. The POW flag might have to be replaced.
John Festa then asked about the audit committee.
Marie: The audit committee is the four of us.
JF: Do we get a chance to talk to the auditors?
Marie: She is done. She has been and gone.
JF: She's gone?
Marie: They do a lot of work through computer systems now.
Jason: I guess I forgot to mention that Heidi from Love Insurance will be here at the next meeting. We will have to make a decision on our risk insurance at the next meeting.
Blogger: Public Comment came next and will be a separate post.
Vic: I haven't taken the doors down because every day it has rained. We are still trying to see what money is there. That is the main thing.
John Festa: I had Rhino Seal come out. They will provide us with a formal proposal. He still says it is permanent stuff, the best out there. It is twice the cost of a regular paint job with a 25-year pro-rated deal.
[Blogger: The trustees passed a resolution last fall to accept Steve Coon's offer to paint the building at no cost to the township, and Linda Ehlert negotiated a deal with Sherwin Williams to get a certain amount of paint donated and the rest at a substantial, maybe 50%, discount. It has been purchased. Readers should remember that John Festa is the same person who, after the trustees had accepted a contractor to do 3 days' worth of work on Pioneer Trail, told the contractor at the end of the second day that he wasn't needed any more. The road crew could do it. As I understand it, with all of their other jobs, the road crew took a month to finish up.
Furthermore, by the time you read to the end of this section, it will be clear just how much money we don't have--but Trustee Festa seems willing to spend twice the amount of a normal paint job, and never mind preparation of the building, to use something probably not recommended by historic preservation guidelines.]
Jason: There is $500 in Improvement of Sites for the town hall. I would like to move a couple of things.
Marie: We have $1900 unencumbered.
Jason: Asked a question on tax collection and other audit fees.
Marie: We will need more than . . . . We have used $1400 of the $2,000 available, and the state charges back.
Jason: Asked about charging back to the county for use of buildings.
Marie: They are public buildings. We can not charge them (the county).
[Blogger: Jason is now in his second term. It seems reasonable to expect that he should know what can and cannot be charged.]
Jason: Other Professional and Technical Services for the Town Hall. What are those?
Marie answered the question.. This is a contingency.
Jason asked if she could move the $1,000.
Marie: It is your budget--you can do whatever you want but in the future you will not have it [in that fund].
Various funds were examined to find money. For the most accurate information, check the minutes when they are posted after having been reviewed and approved at the May 15 meeting.
Repairs and Maintenance, Mantua Center School Building. That was the next item Jason looked at.
Marie: I am showing $1125 in that account. We use that for repairs and maintenance when the furnace goes down. I suppose we can leave that in. You don't expect anything to break down, but you can't tell.
Operating Supplies for the school building. $2500.
Jason: What comes out of this?
Marie: Cleaning supplies, light bulbs, etc.
Jason: Can we trim $1,000 out of that?
Next was contracted services. Marie said, flat out, "Don't touch that."
Part of one fund was for security (police) for the Civic Center.
Jason: Looked at a fund used for t he Civic Center repairs.
Marie: If something breaks, you need to have money in there.
Jason: We have only used 2% of the account.
Marie: One repair can be the whole $3,000.
Jason: Take $500 out of it.
The running total at this point was $6598.
Jason: That will give us a start.
There was some more discussion about this.
Marie: At different times of the year we use these things. For example, some things come due in August, and we need to have the money there until August.
Jason (to the people in the room): This is painful but it is a necessity. [Given the approach to the township finances for the past few years, doing this is a necessity. Would it be a necessity for anyone sitting at the front table? Doubtful. This isn't how Shalersville does things, and it isn't how this township did things until John Festa was elected and Jason and he could vote together.]
Jason made a motion to transfer the funds discussed to the Improvement of Sites, Town Hall fund, total to be approximately $8757.07.
Note #1: The funds from which the money was taken for this purpose are supposed to last for their designated uses until December.
Note #2: Towards the end of last year or at the very beginning of this year, the need for repairs to the township hall in preparation for painting was brought up, and a figure of at least $10,000 was cited, two estimates already having been requested and submitted. That information was ignored and nothing was appropriated. The above process is the result, with the amount found only about half of the higher bid of about $15,000.
John Festa: So we are looking to do it again on Tuesday.
Vic: If it isn't raining.
Next was road repair for 2014.
Jason: I had contacted Anthony Zumbo to see if they would be willing to put together a bid book and they agreed. Any comments?
Vic: I was just going to go ahead and try to get quotes on crack seal..
There was discussion of the cost and the roads in general.
Vic: I will call Chris Meduri to see how we should handle it. [There is $15,000 for repairs that Vic wanted clarification on.]
John Festa: I want to make sure we don't drag our feet on this so we end up in September.
Jason: A quick announcement: a meeting about focus groups will be 5/7 at 6:30p.m. [That meeting has been held and posted in the blog.]
Vic: Do you think it would be wise to see if Todd Peetz can come to that meeting?
Jason: Yes. Why don't you ask him? To Marie: Did you advertise?
Marie: I thought you were advertising.
Next was the rental agreements: Jason asked if there was anything from the insurance company.
Vic replied that it was still in their legal department.
John Festa: About recording meetings to incorporate that onto the website.
I have a couple of models [of camera] in mind. I wanted to ask Frank Horack. We will not be able to control a wireless camera. It will have to be hard wired and put on one of the poles. If it is too much of an interference, we just get a stand somewhere and run a line to a laptop. If there is no problem, I don't mind using one of these posts. I wanted to ask Frank Horack about that.
Jason reported that the school board is just beginning to record their meetings. They can have students as part of the project. Ed Judd might be a contact.
Bogden Rental, Vic: That will be filed in small claims court on Monday.
John Festa: I was hoping to have a conversation with him but tried to reach out to him but didn't get too far.
Larry Leitzow: Bogden is still out of town.
Website: There was some discussion about what to put onto it. The 2014 budget could be posted under "Documents--Budget."
John Festa: I would like to get the pictures for the service department [road crew] updated. [As of the May 1 meeting, the website still had photos of three workers, despite one having been let go at least a month and a half ago. I asked Brian and Dan to take some pictures. I don't know how you [to Jason and Vic] want to handle that.
Vic said he wants to look at it.
Jason: Brent Simon does some photography at an hourly rate and was gracious enough to come to the garage.
Vic: I can take the pictures. I will get them.
[Blogger: "Gracious" and "For Pay" do not come out of the same slot.]
John Festa: I would like the residents to know what we are doing. I don't know if there is a space where they can give you a schedule [of projects and planning].
Brent Simon: Yes. [Note: If you are a little new either to the blog or the township, Brent is the webmaster. He also video records the meetings for posting on a private website that is often mistaken for the township's site.]
John Festa, continuing: The bull pen--we have a flagpole without a flag.
Vic: It has been taken care of.
JF: Are we ever going to get a light?
Vic: I can hook it up. The flags are on their way. I will donate a flag for the administration [school] building. The POW flag might have to be replaced.
John Festa then asked about the audit committee.
Marie: The audit committee is the four of us.
JF: Do we get a chance to talk to the auditors?
Marie: She is done. She has been and gone.
JF: She's gone?
Marie: They do a lot of work through computer systems now.
Jason: I guess I forgot to mention that Heidi from Love Insurance will be here at the next meeting. We will have to make a decision on our risk insurance at the next meeting.
Blogger: Public Comment came next and will be a separate post.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Trustees 5-1-14: Rumbles re Zoning; Routine otherwise
Foreword: This post is not even as close to a transcript as usual, but the highlights of the areas covered in the meeting. For accurate financial information, wait for the official minutes to be posted on the township website, mantuatownshipohio.gov, after they have been approved.
After the usual opening activities, Jason asked Vic if he would handle the crack seal arrangements again this year.
The township's procedures have been approved by the state auditor's office. The cost of this year's audit comes to $3200. Marie had assumed $5500 and earmarked about $8,000.
Marie Stehli asked for an executive session at the end of the meeting to discuss a pending lawsuit.
[Blogger: That is now filed on the Portage County website in the section for the Portage County Court records. If you want to access it, I found it by putting in the name of one of the trustees, since the trustees and the fiscal officer (as well as the zoning inspector) are all named.]
Zoning: John Dickey reported that income from permits came to $260. Notices are to be sent out to about 28 residents for miscellaneous violations: junk autos, trailers, unlicensed vehicles. Documentation is by photograph, and the period to remedy the problem is 45 days from the time of the photos.
Three suits are pending: Carlton Harley Davidson's mulch operation; Zuver's business; and PJC [last letter may not be accurate] Enterprises on Timber Point.
John Dickey also requested equipment to be able to scan, copy, and print in color, a flatbed printer being preferable
Marie pointed out that we had all of those items and that the big printer would do both legal and larger size sheets.
John Dickey said that the printer (apparently not a flatbed) jams. He had researched models and found a price of about $120 available online.
John Festa was in favor of upgrading the equipment and mentioned a price of $199.
Marie: The entire zoning inspector supplies budget for the year is $200. The two zoning boards have $100 each. She mentioned the funds that money can be drawn from to finance this purchase.
John Festa made a motion to allow john Dickey to purchase a printer for the department at the office at the school, not to exceed $200. [Your blogger did not note the second and vote.]
Jason mentioned an issue from a couple of meetings ago about junk motor vehicles. He had gotten the resolution Shalersville has adopted and passed it out tot he trustees. He observed that John seemed to have quite a few vehicles in violation of the zoning code and thought that if we could get that under control, then we could come back to the resolutiion.
John Dickey: That gives the power to the trustees and takes it out of the zoning department. It is also for junk and nuisance. [Blogger: There is some concern that this is the first round in getting a maintenance code--how often to cut grass, among other things--into the township.]
Vic: Have you had any problem where you need this resolution because of people not complying?
Answer: A couple have said OK but have done nothing.
Vic: That you have passed on to Chris Meduri and they have not complied?
John Dickey: I am making sure we have all the proper paper work so Chris Meduri can go through it easier. The time frame is 45 days between the notice and taking photos, and then there is an additional 45 day period, so people have 90 days. [Did he answer the question?]
[Blogger: In the past, the township seemed willing to work with people, the goal being to bring them into compliance, not haul them into court. Bringing people into compliance apparently took a while of talking and persuading, and John Vechery, zoning inspector for 30 years, seemed good at that. Since there was no flap at meetings over how many suits were in process, and since John did not report on how many verbal notices/discussions he had had with people, it was easy to assume that he was not doing much. It was a humane approach, but not fast. Negotiations are of necessity not hasty.
[Now that "a lot" is being done, with an apparent eagerness to take people to court, the situation is shaping into an adversarial one, with winners and losers. If it takes six months to get something resolved but people are speaking to each other with civility at the end of it, everyone wins. Losers want payback of some kind--and in Deerfield, faced with an over-zealous zoning inspector, the voters rescinded zoning. The impact on some residents has been dire, and two attempts to re-instate zoning have failed, as I understand it.
[And the "beauty police" lost.]
Cemetery, Jim Aldrich: Foundation fees: $1,065
Burial fees: 1,925
Grave sales: 2,540
The signs for West Lawn have been completed and set, and Jim expressed gratitude to people who had helped.
Jason thought that thank you letters should go out to the volunteers: Larry Leitzow, Dan, and Steve.
Road Department, Vic: Brian Tayerle wants to send some of our signs to the county to reface them.
Veterans' Memorial, Frank Horack: Frank asked whether the group could use the township hall to display some of the group's paper work. 900 people from the township have served. Whether the building would be used would depend on the weather.
John Festa thought that was a great idea, and Jason thought it would add a little to the dedication..
Vic: Sometimes the museum is open after the ceremonies. You might want to check with them. Sometimes they go upstairs after the parade.
Frank allowed as how he didn't know whom to contact, and Vic said that he thought Linda Ehlert is the new vice president.
There was more discussion about all of that, and Frank made ready to leave. John Festa asked if he was sticking around, because he had a question about electrical service. Frank said to call him after the meeting.
[Blogger: My question is this: Why was this apparently going to be done "off stage?" And why couldn't it have been done on the spot if Frank couldn't stay?]
Matt Parsons: I will have something for you [about the ceremonies and plans] at the next meeting.
New Business and Trustees' Reports:
Jason said that all of his came under old business.
John Festa: Had a letter from Matt Roosa, Assistant Fire Chief, stating that the MSFD had achieved ISO 4/4yr, which means that the dispatch center, fire department, and water supply all meet certain standards. We are one of only 5,000 departments in the nation with this classification. John Festa said that it means lower property taxes and insurance rates.
Vic mentioned setting aside money for the garage. We have 30 days from the receipt of notification to carry out the modifications, and they got to me on the 28th day. After discussions with [I believe] EPA and OSHA, they extended the required completion date to May 30. Vic expects that work to do the required work will begin after the township cleanup day.
Marie asked to schedule a budget workshop and a hearing. For the workshop, June 10 at 7 p.m. The hearing will be on July 3 and can be done before the regular trustees meeting, which would follow immediately. Marie will advertise. She also asked to move the July 17th meeting to July 15 because of a conflict. Dates and times were set, and Marie will advertise.
The significant part of the meeting occurred next, in Township Hall updates. It will be a separate post.
After the usual opening activities, Jason asked Vic if he would handle the crack seal arrangements again this year.
The township's procedures have been approved by the state auditor's office. The cost of this year's audit comes to $3200. Marie had assumed $5500 and earmarked about $8,000.
Marie Stehli asked for an executive session at the end of the meeting to discuss a pending lawsuit.
[Blogger: That is now filed on the Portage County website in the section for the Portage County Court records. If you want to access it, I found it by putting in the name of one of the trustees, since the trustees and the fiscal officer (as well as the zoning inspector) are all named.]
Zoning: John Dickey reported that income from permits came to $260. Notices are to be sent out to about 28 residents for miscellaneous violations: junk autos, trailers, unlicensed vehicles. Documentation is by photograph, and the period to remedy the problem is 45 days from the time of the photos.
Three suits are pending: Carlton Harley Davidson's mulch operation; Zuver's business; and PJC [last letter may not be accurate] Enterprises on Timber Point.
John Dickey also requested equipment to be able to scan, copy, and print in color, a flatbed printer being preferable
Marie pointed out that we had all of those items and that the big printer would do both legal and larger size sheets.
John Dickey said that the printer (apparently not a flatbed) jams. He had researched models and found a price of about $120 available online.
John Festa was in favor of upgrading the equipment and mentioned a price of $199.
Marie: The entire zoning inspector supplies budget for the year is $200. The two zoning boards have $100 each. She mentioned the funds that money can be drawn from to finance this purchase.
John Festa made a motion to allow john Dickey to purchase a printer for the department at the office at the school, not to exceed $200. [Your blogger did not note the second and vote.]
Jason mentioned an issue from a couple of meetings ago about junk motor vehicles. He had gotten the resolution Shalersville has adopted and passed it out tot he trustees. He observed that John seemed to have quite a few vehicles in violation of the zoning code and thought that if we could get that under control, then we could come back to the resolutiion.
John Dickey: That gives the power to the trustees and takes it out of the zoning department. It is also for junk and nuisance. [Blogger: There is some concern that this is the first round in getting a maintenance code--how often to cut grass, among other things--into the township.]
Vic: Have you had any problem where you need this resolution because of people not complying?
Answer: A couple have said OK but have done nothing.
Vic: That you have passed on to Chris Meduri and they have not complied?
John Dickey: I am making sure we have all the proper paper work so Chris Meduri can go through it easier. The time frame is 45 days between the notice and taking photos, and then there is an additional 45 day period, so people have 90 days. [Did he answer the question?]
[Blogger: In the past, the township seemed willing to work with people, the goal being to bring them into compliance, not haul them into court. Bringing people into compliance apparently took a while of talking and persuading, and John Vechery, zoning inspector for 30 years, seemed good at that. Since there was no flap at meetings over how many suits were in process, and since John did not report on how many verbal notices/discussions he had had with people, it was easy to assume that he was not doing much. It was a humane approach, but not fast. Negotiations are of necessity not hasty.
[Now that "a lot" is being done, with an apparent eagerness to take people to court, the situation is shaping into an adversarial one, with winners and losers. If it takes six months to get something resolved but people are speaking to each other with civility at the end of it, everyone wins. Losers want payback of some kind--and in Deerfield, faced with an over-zealous zoning inspector, the voters rescinded zoning. The impact on some residents has been dire, and two attempts to re-instate zoning have failed, as I understand it.
[And the "beauty police" lost.]
Cemetery, Jim Aldrich: Foundation fees: $1,065
Burial fees: 1,925
Grave sales: 2,540
The signs for West Lawn have been completed and set, and Jim expressed gratitude to people who had helped.
Jason thought that thank you letters should go out to the volunteers: Larry Leitzow, Dan, and Steve.
Road Department, Vic: Brian Tayerle wants to send some of our signs to the county to reface them.
Veterans' Memorial, Frank Horack: Frank asked whether the group could use the township hall to display some of the group's paper work. 900 people from the township have served. Whether the building would be used would depend on the weather.
John Festa thought that was a great idea, and Jason thought it would add a little to the dedication..
Vic: Sometimes the museum is open after the ceremonies. You might want to check with them. Sometimes they go upstairs after the parade.
Frank allowed as how he didn't know whom to contact, and Vic said that he thought Linda Ehlert is the new vice president.
There was more discussion about all of that, and Frank made ready to leave. John Festa asked if he was sticking around, because he had a question about electrical service. Frank said to call him after the meeting.
[Blogger: My question is this: Why was this apparently going to be done "off stage?" And why couldn't it have been done on the spot if Frank couldn't stay?]
Matt Parsons: I will have something for you [about the ceremonies and plans] at the next meeting.
New Business and Trustees' Reports:
Jason said that all of his came under old business.
John Festa: Had a letter from Matt Roosa, Assistant Fire Chief, stating that the MSFD had achieved ISO 4/4yr, which means that the dispatch center, fire department, and water supply all meet certain standards. We are one of only 5,000 departments in the nation with this classification. John Festa said that it means lower property taxes and insurance rates.
Vic mentioned setting aside money for the garage. We have 30 days from the receipt of notification to carry out the modifications, and they got to me on the 28th day. After discussions with [I believe] EPA and OSHA, they extended the required completion date to May 30. Vic expects that work to do the required work will begin after the township cleanup day.
Marie asked to schedule a budget workshop and a hearing. For the workshop, June 10 at 7 p.m. The hearing will be on July 3 and can be done before the regular trustees meeting, which would follow immediately. Marie will advertise. She also asked to move the July 17th meeting to July 15 because of a conflict. Dates and times were set, and Marie will advertise.
The significant part of the meeting occurred next, in Township Hall updates. It will be a separate post.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Special Meeting re School Use Committees
Blogger: Not proofread except in process. I may or may not check against a recording to get the full text of what I said. This is the only record of the meeting outside of the official minutes.
This meeting was to begin discussing and setting in motion the formation of the committees that Todd Peetz had suggested at a Civic Center meeting about how to get us into the school.
The committees are Needs Assessment; Volunteers; Sponsors; Building Utilization.
John Festa had pulled three areas of interest from Todd's report.
1. The cost of rehabilitation and improvement of the site. These do not fall under Todd's skill set.
2. Todd had suggested that the trustees establish volunteer committees to fully restore the school. These included the grants committee and a building utilization committee.
3. There was also a recommendation, since the building now is zoned residential, that perhaps it be examined as to putting the school property into a commercial district to include the school property. John Festa considered that important in terms of cost analysis. He said, "The public needs to know how much it would cost to make that building viable for use (us?) and possible use for the township.
Vic: I think we need to set up some committees. As far as the grants, that should be one of the later committees because we need to establish what needs to be done and the purpose or use. The grants will have to be filled out in detail in asking for funds. One of the first should be evaluating the building for uses that they want.
Jason: I looked over this as well. I am not an expert in setting up committees, but there are some things I would like to see. Once we have set up some committees, I think we ought to advertise so we can get community participation. [Jason commented that the legal ads were the customary method for the township, but those ads didn't get out a lot of attendance. There were between 15 and 20 people at this meeting.]
Jason was wary of having too many people on any committee
He referred to the 20 possible uses that had been mentioned in the survey. Later, I said something to him about that--that trying to implement all of them was not feasible, but that there were several that had a lot of "votes" that made the most sense.
Jason thought that, despite the skills of the people in the room, determining the structural needs of the building required professionals. John Festa agreed on that and went through a list: structural, HVAC, electrical. [A lot of this may have been done when the trustees had the building assessed in 2004.]
Then he said that he didn't know whether we were going to go around in circles again about the uses of the building. [However, as I understand it, the building has had two satisfactory electrical inspections.]
Generally, there was a lot of "let's dance nicely together" discussion.
Vic: We have a lot of what we need. An architect can provide a lot of the costs. When we did the gymnasium, an architect provided the information about the cost.
The meeting began at 6:30; at 6:50 Todd Peetz, Regional Planning, came in from another meeting.
John Festa commented about the committees, in particular the cost assessment. He wondered about soliciting people in the community and maybe an architect or two.
Todd: If you can find 1-2 contractors and architects who can give you a cost analysis, that is ideal so long as you don't have to pay a huge amount [for their advice]. The cost analysis drives the whole thing. That committee would identify all the needs--outside, front, handicapped, interior, etc. List them all; find out what they cost and then what it will take to get 1-2-3 tenants in the spaces. Also what will it take to run the utilities.
Another is the foundations and grants. They can be working at any time.
The other committee working simultaneously is the utilization committee. They can be working on finding people to rent.
The other is volunteers/sponsorships. They can go out and see who could fund things or donate things. Volunteers can do quite a bit.. The steeple, however, requires skilled workers doing that. In a two-minute nutshell, that is how I perceive it. It is easier said than done, but we had a good group Sunday before last [at the annual meeting of The Mantua Restoration Society.] I think you can get a lot accomplished.
The number of people on a committee was discussed.
Todd: At first I thought that each of you could head a committee. But probably y9ou want three, four, or five people together and a trustee to organize and then determine how many people you want. For utilization, you can use more; the more out in the community, the more users you can find.
For the cost/needs committee, you probably just need an architect and 4-5 people.
The volunteer committee should have 5-6 people to organize and then get as many as possible to go out and find people.
Jason asked about the selection process and how to get to the members of the community who do not come to meetings.
Todd mentioned that he had heard Eric Hummel mentioned, and suggested going to the Portage County Building Department and talking to Randy Roberts.
Vic: When we set up the Land Use Committee, we advertised and went through an interview process. We had 25 people for the whole group for that plan. They were looking for a slice of the community. Somebody outside the community handled that to pick the committees.
Todd: I can help out but I think this is more of a community project.
Vic: For the volunteers and group members, community; but to pick the groups we had someone outside.
Todd: I know the gentleman who spoke [Steve Coon] was outside. Maybe you [could use] me also.
John Festa mentioned again the cost analysis committee.
Vic: If we decide to go that way, would you be interested in helping us set up those committees?
Todd: I would be happy to help out in whatever way I can.
John Festa: I don't think we will do that. Your study was exactly what we wanted.
Todd commented on the makeup and number of people on the committees and mentioned sweat equity.
Jason: It is the community's building, not the trustees' building. I think that coming up with these committees would be good. When the committee is formed, they are chosen by their peers and the trustees and so there should be no great argument. I don't want people to think that this is agenda driven. Then he asked about the hours we have available from Regional Planning.
Todd: As long as you know that we are working together, that will be OK. At one of the meetings I heard that "we don't want Regional Planning here."
John Festa raised the question about a possible zoning change and asked about when that should be done.
Todd said that the zoning is usually correct before you begin a project. For governmental uses, the zoning is OK. But if thee are other uses, that may not be consistent with the zoning. He added that re-zoning usually takes 3-5 months.. There was some discussion about the houses around the school building.
John Festa said that he wouldn't want to infringe on anyone's rights.
Todd: It would be nonconforming. We are going to meet with Chris Meduri in June on nonconforming uses.
John Festa said he wanted to get the zoning inspector's take on this.
Vic: As far as the zoning, we would have to establish the use of the building. As long as it is for government, it is OK as is.
Todd? Vic?: A community center is fine. One of the recommendations was that we could have a community consignment shop for arts and crafts.
Vic: One of the things was a co-op. Does that fit?
Todd: It depends on the kind of co-op. Then he thought it was a gray area and gave examples of things that could work. I am glad to come out. Let me know when you are going to kick these things off so I can.
At this point Jason asked the people attending for specific questions.
Dave Pollard: The government section would not require any changes in zoning.
Todd: I am quoting as best I can from memory. I believe that it is a permitted use for government services.
Dave: There are two different zoning districts on that property. Since the plan right along has been government services, we don't have to do that right away.
Todd: You are probably 3-4 months out. Rather than change the map, you can probably change language. I don't think you want to include non residential uses as permitted.
Tim Bennett: Over at the church, there is a free clothes give away. It is in one of the classrooms and takes a ton of space and is a not for profit. Is t hat a use that could go over to the school?
Todd: You could probably rent space. You want to have revenue generating uses there.
Tim: You want to keep the lights on.
Todd: I am assuming that the utilities of a building like that are high. Maintenance over time could become expensive. You want to make sure it can pay for part of itself.
Phil Derthick: We do allow home based businesses in residential areas.
Todd: Those are supposed to look like a house.
Vic grinned and asked if a school house qualifies.
Mark Hall: About the potential rezoning. But what about a historical district? Keep it historical, which would avoid the issue of residents vs. non residential. Usually the commercial uses are the softer (?) ones.
Carole Pollard: After listening to all of these uses and possible tenants, I wonder if there is any room for us?
Vic: Only one room on the first floor has a restroom.
Phil Derthick: We have had discussions on the cost to fix it. But shouldn't committees look at what it would cost if we don't use the building?
John Festa: There is a cost to everything.
Phil: What will it cost if we don't do it? You have to bring both sets to the township so they know what it will cost. IF they can't fix it, things need to be rented.
Jason at this point said that what we were there to talk about was the committees.
Mark Hall: I think we should document exactly what theses committees are.
Needs assessment: Building utilization. The words affect how you go about it. For what each committee is chartered to do, to use your terms, Jason, have some guard rails; the people on the committees need those.
Mark, continuing: As far as the committees, I would like to see them set up exclusive of the trustees, who would be there as resources. The committees should be as community based as possible. It should be driven down into the community. Have it be more purely community driven.
Vic: The various committees should coordinate and report back to the trustees.
Mark: Even if you do the advertising and pull out names, empower them to report back to the trustees.
Jason: I completely agree with that.
Mark: People have different readings for what utilization means.
Matt Parsons: I think in talking about grants, you guys might really want to look into MaRSI for that. They have a lot more contacts and have a larger outreach in regard to other historic divisions. That committee--you might potentially want to lean on them.
Sue Skrovan: To Matt Parson't comment. MaRSI did apply for 501 c 3 status and when we get that, it will open a lot of doors for funding agencies for us.
To Mark Hall's point: I was going to bring up having the committees be independent of the trustees and I thought it would be good for them to be able to do their job.
With the Zoning Commission, for residential non conforming, when a house is no longer a house and they try to use it but fail and then someone else buys it and wants it back as a house, that does not work.
John Festa: That is why we need to respect the wishes of the people.
Sue: I think thee is a minimum or rezoning of 25 acres. Otherwise it is spot zoning.
Dave Pollard: But you can redress an anomaly.
Linda Ehlert: Thanked Matt for his comment. Todd Peetz has already agreed to give us help with this. I have a daughter who does this (grants) for a living. I will be happy to go to other community centers and see how they work. In the meantime, I can go out and put feelers out.
Jason mentioned combining services with entities that may not have the facilities.
Linda: I saw the other day that Crestwood offices need more space. Reach out a little bit to the historical society. They are a little nervous about stepping on anyone's toes.
John Festa: Everyone is welcome.
Linda: They are nervous.
Phil Derthick: When we worked with D. B. Hart, we told him if we were interested, but they interviewed everybody.
Dave: About Mark's guard rails. I have never been too comfortable with the mission statement approach. But it might be good for each committee to have the equivalent of a mission statement. Maybe a mission statement for each committee would help keep it focused.
Jason agreed about loss of focus.
Dave: MaRSI have friends who are architects who are willing to work at a reduced rate. We have the resources and I think once things begin to move forward volunteers will show up. I look forward to Todd's help on this.
Vic to Todd: I appreciate your coming on such short notice.
Jason: We have a trustees meeting coming up next Thursday. If we can begin thinking about the different guardrails and how we want to use Todd for these groups. Once we get the groups and people, if we get a large number of people, maybe you can help us take the bias out of the township.
Phil Dethick: What is the cost if we run over those hours from Regional Planning? What if all of them are used up and then zoning needs hours?
Todd: The average is $60-65 per hour. I am a little more and Claudia James is a little less.
Jason commented that we are 1/4 of the way through the year but still have all of the 40 hours allocated available to us.
Jason: So for the next meting let's think about the guard rails and how to advertise it.
.
This meeting was to begin discussing and setting in motion the formation of the committees that Todd Peetz had suggested at a Civic Center meeting about how to get us into the school.
The committees are Needs Assessment; Volunteers; Sponsors; Building Utilization.
John Festa had pulled three areas of interest from Todd's report.
1. The cost of rehabilitation and improvement of the site. These do not fall under Todd's skill set.
2. Todd had suggested that the trustees establish volunteer committees to fully restore the school. These included the grants committee and a building utilization committee.
3. There was also a recommendation, since the building now is zoned residential, that perhaps it be examined as to putting the school property into a commercial district to include the school property. John Festa considered that important in terms of cost analysis. He said, "The public needs to know how much it would cost to make that building viable for use (us?) and possible use for the township.
Vic: I think we need to set up some committees. As far as the grants, that should be one of the later committees because we need to establish what needs to be done and the purpose or use. The grants will have to be filled out in detail in asking for funds. One of the first should be evaluating the building for uses that they want.
Jason: I looked over this as well. I am not an expert in setting up committees, but there are some things I would like to see. Once we have set up some committees, I think we ought to advertise so we can get community participation. [Jason commented that the legal ads were the customary method for the township, but those ads didn't get out a lot of attendance. There were between 15 and 20 people at this meeting.]
Jason was wary of having too many people on any committee
He referred to the 20 possible uses that had been mentioned in the survey. Later, I said something to him about that--that trying to implement all of them was not feasible, but that there were several that had a lot of "votes" that made the most sense.
Jason thought that, despite the skills of the people in the room, determining the structural needs of the building required professionals. John Festa agreed on that and went through a list: structural, HVAC, electrical. [A lot of this may have been done when the trustees had the building assessed in 2004.]
Then he said that he didn't know whether we were going to go around in circles again about the uses of the building. [However, as I understand it, the building has had two satisfactory electrical inspections.]
Generally, there was a lot of "let's dance nicely together" discussion.
Vic: We have a lot of what we need. An architect can provide a lot of the costs. When we did the gymnasium, an architect provided the information about the cost.
The meeting began at 6:30; at 6:50 Todd Peetz, Regional Planning, came in from another meeting.
John Festa commented about the committees, in particular the cost assessment. He wondered about soliciting people in the community and maybe an architect or two.
Todd: If you can find 1-2 contractors and architects who can give you a cost analysis, that is ideal so long as you don't have to pay a huge amount [for their advice]. The cost analysis drives the whole thing. That committee would identify all the needs--outside, front, handicapped, interior, etc. List them all; find out what they cost and then what it will take to get 1-2-3 tenants in the spaces. Also what will it take to run the utilities.
Another is the foundations and grants. They can be working at any time.
The other committee working simultaneously is the utilization committee. They can be working on finding people to rent.
The other is volunteers/sponsorships. They can go out and see who could fund things or donate things. Volunteers can do quite a bit.. The steeple, however, requires skilled workers doing that. In a two-minute nutshell, that is how I perceive it. It is easier said than done, but we had a good group Sunday before last [at the annual meeting of The Mantua Restoration Society.] I think you can get a lot accomplished.
The number of people on a committee was discussed.
Todd: At first I thought that each of you could head a committee. But probably y9ou want three, four, or five people together and a trustee to organize and then determine how many people you want. For utilization, you can use more; the more out in the community, the more users you can find.
For the cost/needs committee, you probably just need an architect and 4-5 people.
The volunteer committee should have 5-6 people to organize and then get as many as possible to go out and find people.
Jason asked about the selection process and how to get to the members of the community who do not come to meetings.
Todd mentioned that he had heard Eric Hummel mentioned, and suggested going to the Portage County Building Department and talking to Randy Roberts.
Vic: When we set up the Land Use Committee, we advertised and went through an interview process. We had 25 people for the whole group for that plan. They were looking for a slice of the community. Somebody outside the community handled that to pick the committees.
Todd: I can help out but I think this is more of a community project.
Vic: For the volunteers and group members, community; but to pick the groups we had someone outside.
Todd: I know the gentleman who spoke [Steve Coon] was outside. Maybe you [could use] me also.
John Festa mentioned again the cost analysis committee.
Vic: If we decide to go that way, would you be interested in helping us set up those committees?
Todd: I would be happy to help out in whatever way I can.
John Festa: I don't think we will do that. Your study was exactly what we wanted.
Todd commented on the makeup and number of people on the committees and mentioned sweat equity.
Jason: It is the community's building, not the trustees' building. I think that coming up with these committees would be good. When the committee is formed, they are chosen by their peers and the trustees and so there should be no great argument. I don't want people to think that this is agenda driven. Then he asked about the hours we have available from Regional Planning.
Todd: As long as you know that we are working together, that will be OK. At one of the meetings I heard that "we don't want Regional Planning here."
John Festa raised the question about a possible zoning change and asked about when that should be done.
Todd said that the zoning is usually correct before you begin a project. For governmental uses, the zoning is OK. But if thee are other uses, that may not be consistent with the zoning. He added that re-zoning usually takes 3-5 months.. There was some discussion about the houses around the school building.
John Festa said that he wouldn't want to infringe on anyone's rights.
Todd: It would be nonconforming. We are going to meet with Chris Meduri in June on nonconforming uses.
John Festa said he wanted to get the zoning inspector's take on this.
Vic: As far as the zoning, we would have to establish the use of the building. As long as it is for government, it is OK as is.
Todd? Vic?: A community center is fine. One of the recommendations was that we could have a community consignment shop for arts and crafts.
Vic: One of the things was a co-op. Does that fit?
Todd: It depends on the kind of co-op. Then he thought it was a gray area and gave examples of things that could work. I am glad to come out. Let me know when you are going to kick these things off so I can.
At this point Jason asked the people attending for specific questions.
Dave Pollard: The government section would not require any changes in zoning.
Todd: I am quoting as best I can from memory. I believe that it is a permitted use for government services.
Dave: There are two different zoning districts on that property. Since the plan right along has been government services, we don't have to do that right away.
Todd: You are probably 3-4 months out. Rather than change the map, you can probably change language. I don't think you want to include non residential uses as permitted.
Tim Bennett: Over at the church, there is a free clothes give away. It is in one of the classrooms and takes a ton of space and is a not for profit. Is t hat a use that could go over to the school?
Todd: You could probably rent space. You want to have revenue generating uses there.
Tim: You want to keep the lights on.
Todd: I am assuming that the utilities of a building like that are high. Maintenance over time could become expensive. You want to make sure it can pay for part of itself.
Phil Derthick: We do allow home based businesses in residential areas.
Todd: Those are supposed to look like a house.
Vic grinned and asked if a school house qualifies.
Mark Hall: About the potential rezoning. But what about a historical district? Keep it historical, which would avoid the issue of residents vs. non residential. Usually the commercial uses are the softer (?) ones.
Carole Pollard: After listening to all of these uses and possible tenants, I wonder if there is any room for us?
Vic: Only one room on the first floor has a restroom.
Phil Derthick: We have had discussions on the cost to fix it. But shouldn't committees look at what it would cost if we don't use the building?
John Festa: There is a cost to everything.
Phil: What will it cost if we don't do it? You have to bring both sets to the township so they know what it will cost. IF they can't fix it, things need to be rented.
Jason at this point said that what we were there to talk about was the committees.
Mark Hall: I think we should document exactly what theses committees are.
Needs assessment: Building utilization. The words affect how you go about it. For what each committee is chartered to do, to use your terms, Jason, have some guard rails; the people on the committees need those.
Mark, continuing: As far as the committees, I would like to see them set up exclusive of the trustees, who would be there as resources. The committees should be as community based as possible. It should be driven down into the community. Have it be more purely community driven.
Vic: The various committees should coordinate and report back to the trustees.
Mark: Even if you do the advertising and pull out names, empower them to report back to the trustees.
Jason: I completely agree with that.
Mark: People have different readings for what utilization means.
Matt Parsons: I think in talking about grants, you guys might really want to look into MaRSI for that. They have a lot more contacts and have a larger outreach in regard to other historic divisions. That committee--you might potentially want to lean on them.
Sue Skrovan: To Matt Parson't comment. MaRSI did apply for 501 c 3 status and when we get that, it will open a lot of doors for funding agencies for us.
To Mark Hall's point: I was going to bring up having the committees be independent of the trustees and I thought it would be good for them to be able to do their job.
With the Zoning Commission, for residential non conforming, when a house is no longer a house and they try to use it but fail and then someone else buys it and wants it back as a house, that does not work.
John Festa: That is why we need to respect the wishes of the people.
Sue: I think thee is a minimum or rezoning of 25 acres. Otherwise it is spot zoning.
Dave Pollard: But you can redress an anomaly.
Linda Ehlert: Thanked Matt for his comment. Todd Peetz has already agreed to give us help with this. I have a daughter who does this (grants) for a living. I will be happy to go to other community centers and see how they work. In the meantime, I can go out and put feelers out.
Jason mentioned combining services with entities that may not have the facilities.
Linda: I saw the other day that Crestwood offices need more space. Reach out a little bit to the historical society. They are a little nervous about stepping on anyone's toes.
John Festa: Everyone is welcome.
Linda: They are nervous.
Phil Derthick: When we worked with D. B. Hart, we told him if we were interested, but they interviewed everybody.
Dave: About Mark's guard rails. I have never been too comfortable with the mission statement approach. But it might be good for each committee to have the equivalent of a mission statement. Maybe a mission statement for each committee would help keep it focused.
Jason agreed about loss of focus.
Dave: MaRSI have friends who are architects who are willing to work at a reduced rate. We have the resources and I think once things begin to move forward volunteers will show up. I look forward to Todd's help on this.
Vic to Todd: I appreciate your coming on such short notice.
Jason: We have a trustees meeting coming up next Thursday. If we can begin thinking about the different guardrails and how we want to use Todd for these groups. Once we get the groups and people, if we get a large number of people, maybe you can help us take the bias out of the township.
Phil Dethick: What is the cost if we run over those hours from Regional Planning? What if all of them are used up and then zoning needs hours?
Todd: The average is $60-65 per hour. I am a little more and Claudia James is a little less.
Jason commented that we are 1/4 of the way through the year but still have all of the 40 hours allocated available to us.
Jason: So for the next meting let's think about the guard rails and how to advertise it.
.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
"Sense of Place" topic of Mantua society meeting
Blogger Foreword: This post, and its title, appeared in the May 1, 2014, Record Courier. My apologies for not having the skill to put the photograph into the blog as well.
Steve Coon, owner of Coon Restoration and Sealants, Inc., of Louisville. Ohio, the largest historic preservation company in the state, recently spoke to 64 people during the second annual meeting of The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., at the historic Mantua Center school building.
Coon's topic was "A Sense of Place," illustrated with the buildings slated for demolition that he has purchased, renovated and restored to full use. Among the 37 historic buildings he owns is Canton's Hotel Onesto, vacant for 38 years and scheduled for completion this year.
Coon advocates renovating the historic buildings, which give communities their character and identity. If those buildings are lost, a community becomes "Anywhere, U.S.A.," he said.
When asked about the Mantua Center school building, he said, "This building has good bones. It's in much better shape than the Hotel Onesto was when I bought it.: He said that wheat it takes for renobvation projects like the school building is some vision and persistence.
Coon and two architects did a video-recorded walk-through of the building with Mantua Township Trustee Victor Grimm earlier in the year. Coon acknowledged the work Grimm has done in maintaining the building's systems. The video will be completed and available in about a month. A recording of his talk will be posted on The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., website, mantuarestorationsociety.org.
In the business portion of the meeting, all Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., officers were re-elected: Mark Hall, president; Susan Buckles, vice president; Lynn Harvey, treasurer, and Carole Pollard, secretary.
"
Steve Coon, owner of Coon Restoration and Sealants, Inc., of Louisville. Ohio, the largest historic preservation company in the state, recently spoke to 64 people during the second annual meeting of The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., at the historic Mantua Center school building.
Coon's topic was "A Sense of Place," illustrated with the buildings slated for demolition that he has purchased, renovated and restored to full use. Among the 37 historic buildings he owns is Canton's Hotel Onesto, vacant for 38 years and scheduled for completion this year.
Coon advocates renovating the historic buildings, which give communities their character and identity. If those buildings are lost, a community becomes "Anywhere, U.S.A.," he said.
When asked about the Mantua Center school building, he said, "This building has good bones. It's in much better shape than the Hotel Onesto was when I bought it.: He said that wheat it takes for renobvation projects like the school building is some vision and persistence.
Coon and two architects did a video-recorded walk-through of the building with Mantua Township Trustee Victor Grimm earlier in the year. Coon acknowledged the work Grimm has done in maintaining the building's systems. The video will be completed and available in about a month. A recording of his talk will be posted on The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., website, mantuarestorationsociety.org.
In the business portion of the meeting, all Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., officers were re-elected: Mark Hall, president; Susan Buckles, vice president; Lynn Harvey, treasurer, and Carole Pollard, secretary.
"
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Special Mtg. re school Focus Groups 5-7
It's hard to get very hopeful about "progress" towards the school.
However, at the May 1 trustees' meeting, Wednesday, May 7, was set to discuss the focus groups that Todd Peetz mentioned in one or both of the meetings he conducted at the Civic Center.
Full information: Wednesday, May 7, 6 p.m. at the Township Hall: a special trustees' meeting to discuss the focus groups suggested by Todd Peetz to develop ideas and plans for the Mantua Center school building. Vic is going to contact Todd to ask him to come to the meeting, and I hope he can.
Correction: The time of the focus group meeting is 6:30 p.m.
For anyone who wants to see us in the school before the beginning of the next century, this is an important--maybe even crucial--meeting.
The turnout for the annual meeting of the Mantua Restoratrion Society on April 27 was very heartening, and Steve Coon was pretty convincing that we should get off the dime and get into the building. I hope that people were energized and will keep up the momentum by coming to the meeting on Wednesday.
If you didn't see the May 1 Ravenna Record Courier, there was a photo of Steve and the restoration society officers on the front steps of the school, and also on May 1 The Community Journal ran a more detailed article on the meeting by Terri Vechery. That can be picked up for the next week and a half, so all I am going to do about it is to let you know about it.
Since the Record Courier has been and gone, the blog will post that article in its entirety very soon.
Most important is that you show up on Wednesday
However, at the May 1 trustees' meeting, Wednesday, May 7, was set to discuss the focus groups that Todd Peetz mentioned in one or both of the meetings he conducted at the Civic Center.
Full information: Wednesday, May 7, 6 p.m. at the Township Hall: a special trustees' meeting to discuss the focus groups suggested by Todd Peetz to develop ideas and plans for the Mantua Center school building. Vic is going to contact Todd to ask him to come to the meeting, and I hope he can.
Correction: The time of the focus group meeting is 6:30 p.m.
For anyone who wants to see us in the school before the beginning of the next century, this is an important--maybe even crucial--meeting.
The turnout for the annual meeting of the Mantua Restoratrion Society on April 27 was very heartening, and Steve Coon was pretty convincing that we should get off the dime and get into the building. I hope that people were energized and will keep up the momentum by coming to the meeting on Wednesday.
If you didn't see the May 1 Ravenna Record Courier, there was a photo of Steve and the restoration society officers on the front steps of the school, and also on May 1 The Community Journal ran a more detailed article on the meeting by Terri Vechery. That can be picked up for the next week and a half, so all I am going to do about it is to let you know about it.
Since the Record Courier has been and gone, the blog will post that article in its entirety very soon.
Most important is that you show up on Wednesday
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)