"Taps" and the Anthem, the chaplain's prayer,
Three volleys fired into the air,
Some flowers placed upon a grave
In honor of all they did and gave.
Lest we forget,
Lest we forget.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Friday, May 23, 2014
Trustees May 15: Road Repairs, Old Frost, etc.
Jason: I apologize. I thought I had printed this off. I talked with Anthony Zumbo. I will print this and drop it off in your boxes in the morning.
Jason reviewed the roads listed and indicated that someone from the county came out and reviewed them [as well]. We thought that there is a lot of work to be done on Old Frost: ditching, cutting the road back, culverts, tree removal. Will [Portage Co. Engineer's Office] proposed that the work be started at the tail end of this year to prepare that road for major repairs. Will said that the County would be able[?] to put in a bid. They can do some of the grading. Things we don't have the manpower to do with just two guys.
Vic: The only way we can move in some places is to the east.
Dave Pollard: On my place [the west boundary of which is at Frost Road] you are going to have to move west because the edge of that embankment is right at those markers.
Vic: So we are going to have to have it surveyed. To Dave: The telephone poles are on the right of way?
Dave: Yes. They are on the right of way. At the corner of my place there is a solid black plastic post. The middle of the right of way is just about on the west side of the road. That pin is only about 6-8 feet from the west side of the road.
Until you go down to Dale Gould's you will have to go on the west side if you are going to widen it fairly and properly.
Jason described a similar project that Freedom Township had.
Moving on: Three roads of just a little over three miles to chip and seal. We know there will be a considerable amount of work on Winchell. Right in front of Dan Cozzens' water is coming down along the driveway and running full bore and separating [?] the ditch and the road.
Vic: Wayne east should also be done. There was 4" of water coming from Wayne across 44 and down there. Vic described some more of what had happened with the rain and the water. There is a lot of grass in the ditch.
Jason: The county has a machine that beats any other ditching machine. We could use that on some of our roads. [Blogger Note: This is not a free service, as I understand it.]
Vic: We are really going to have to address Mantua Center Road--that berm. I think we will have a lot of money to dump on that. We are going to have to try to stabilize it somehow but I don't know how with that kind of soil. We need something with a root system but that is harder to maintain for us. [Note: The berm mentioned had its grass stripped off and I believe some additional grading was done. Some of the residents and, clearly, Vic are concerned about the road now being undercut in the event of a heavy rain.]
Jason: Made a motion to work with Anthony Zumbo in the Portage County Engineer's Office to finalize a bid book for Wayne, Winchell, and Pioneer Trail.
Vic: Pioneer Trail was one that was dropped last year.
Jason gave the specifics on the roads. John Festa seconded his motion. Passed.
Jason reviewed the roads listed and indicated that someone from the county came out and reviewed them [as well]. We thought that there is a lot of work to be done on Old Frost: ditching, cutting the road back, culverts, tree removal. Will [Portage Co. Engineer's Office] proposed that the work be started at the tail end of this year to prepare that road for major repairs. Will said that the County would be able[?] to put in a bid. They can do some of the grading. Things we don't have the manpower to do with just two guys.
Vic: The only way we can move in some places is to the east.
Dave Pollard: On my place [the west boundary of which is at Frost Road] you are going to have to move west because the edge of that embankment is right at those markers.
Vic: So we are going to have to have it surveyed. To Dave: The telephone poles are on the right of way?
Dave: Yes. They are on the right of way. At the corner of my place there is a solid black plastic post. The middle of the right of way is just about on the west side of the road. That pin is only about 6-8 feet from the west side of the road.
Until you go down to Dale Gould's you will have to go on the west side if you are going to widen it fairly and properly.
Jason described a similar project that Freedom Township had.
Moving on: Three roads of just a little over three miles to chip and seal. We know there will be a considerable amount of work on Winchell. Right in front of Dan Cozzens' water is coming down along the driveway and running full bore and separating [?] the ditch and the road.
Vic: Wayne east should also be done. There was 4" of water coming from Wayne across 44 and down there. Vic described some more of what had happened with the rain and the water. There is a lot of grass in the ditch.
Jason: The county has a machine that beats any other ditching machine. We could use that on some of our roads. [Blogger Note: This is not a free service, as I understand it.]
Vic: We are really going to have to address Mantua Center Road--that berm. I think we will have a lot of money to dump on that. We are going to have to try to stabilize it somehow but I don't know how with that kind of soil. We need something with a root system but that is harder to maintain for us. [Note: The berm mentioned had its grass stripped off and I believe some additional grading was done. Some of the residents and, clearly, Vic are concerned about the road now being undercut in the event of a heavy rain.]
Jason: Made a motion to work with Anthony Zumbo in the Portage County Engineer's Office to finalize a bid book for Wayne, Winchell, and Pioneer Trail.
Vic: Pioneer Trail was one that was dropped last year.
Jason gave the specifics on the roads. John Festa seconded his motion. Passed.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Township Hall: Some flashes of reason
Township Hall updates came under Old Business.
Vic: [I think.] It looks as if it has been opened up back there--the southeast corner, by the door, and by the fire escape. We need to discuss the work to be done because we need to make repairs.
John Festa: Replacing the timbers may mess up some of the plaster [inside]. When they opened it up, there were birds' nests or something in there. [In closed walls? Birds' nests?] It looks pretty spongy. I think someone needs to look at that. If we are going to repair that, I think we will need to do interior work as well.
Jason: I thought it was going to look worse. It actually looks pretty good. It is just that the beam aabove the door is rotted. I don't think it would be too much of a task for a carpenter.
Vic: I don't know if we will have much damage inside. I have talked with Carl Brant but not Reuben. We do need to get started on it.
Jason: What is the total that we allocated?
Marie: $8257. I think, looking at the insurance figures, if we take more out of road and bridge and less out of general fund, we may be able to get about $3,000. We should not be touching the health insurance until we . . . .
Jason: What did Cal Brant think?
Vic: He looked at it an election day. He really felt that he could get in there without doing any damage on the inside. We have enough 4-by's. They are 4x4 walls and they are funning pretty even. We should be able to get the fire escape off and repair it without doing a lot of damage. Reuben said he would be willing to work with either of the contractors. His rate is $40.00 per hour.
Jason: I would like a proposal tonight and would like to begin. We have a lot of work.
To Vic: Why not set aside $4,000-$4500 and say to Cal, this is what we have--what can you do with it? That is because he was the cheaper of the two.
Vic: Yes. If he needs help, we can call Reuben. We can make the same offer to Ronnie Stamm.
John Festa: That seems to be a good idea. I would like to get a firmer price on it but it will be difficult.
Vic: Nobody knows what you will be getting into.
John Festa: Anchor points have to be firm.
Jason: The two estimates are very close. I do not have an issue. If we went back to the drawing board, we are back out two weeks. If we set aside $5,000 to begin the repairs on the back and see where we are and go from there. That would give us some time to wrap up some additional funds once the trash pickup is all done.
Vic: They picked up the lift to take back and service it. I have talked to the fire department and they will be willing to be here on standby.
John Festa: I don't feel it is a bad idea to set aside the $5,000.
Vic: There is really not a lot of work on the front and side.
Jason: Make a motion?
Vic: I would like to make a motion to set aside $5,000 to start the work on the east side of the Town Hall.
Jason: Which contractor?
Vic: I can call them both and see if one is busy and the other isn't.
John Festa: That seems reasonable.
Jason: I think we should use the contractor who did the quotes. Jason seconded the motion. Unanimous.
Blogger: All of this looks so reasonable, why in the blue-eyed world did it take a year to get here?
Vic: [I think.] It looks as if it has been opened up back there--the southeast corner, by the door, and by the fire escape. We need to discuss the work to be done because we need to make repairs.
John Festa: Replacing the timbers may mess up some of the plaster [inside]. When they opened it up, there were birds' nests or something in there. [In closed walls? Birds' nests?] It looks pretty spongy. I think someone needs to look at that. If we are going to repair that, I think we will need to do interior work as well.
Jason: I thought it was going to look worse. It actually looks pretty good. It is just that the beam aabove the door is rotted. I don't think it would be too much of a task for a carpenter.
Vic: I don't know if we will have much damage inside. I have talked with Carl Brant but not Reuben. We do need to get started on it.
Jason: What is the total that we allocated?
Marie: $8257. I think, looking at the insurance figures, if we take more out of road and bridge and less out of general fund, we may be able to get about $3,000. We should not be touching the health insurance until we . . . .
Jason: What did Cal Brant think?
Vic: He looked at it an election day. He really felt that he could get in there without doing any damage on the inside. We have enough 4-by's. They are 4x4 walls and they are funning pretty even. We should be able to get the fire escape off and repair it without doing a lot of damage. Reuben said he would be willing to work with either of the contractors. His rate is $40.00 per hour.
Jason: I would like a proposal tonight and would like to begin. We have a lot of work.
To Vic: Why not set aside $4,000-$4500 and say to Cal, this is what we have--what can you do with it? That is because he was the cheaper of the two.
Vic: Yes. If he needs help, we can call Reuben. We can make the same offer to Ronnie Stamm.
John Festa: That seems to be a good idea. I would like to get a firmer price on it but it will be difficult.
Vic: Nobody knows what you will be getting into.
John Festa: Anchor points have to be firm.
Jason: The two estimates are very close. I do not have an issue. If we went back to the drawing board, we are back out two weeks. If we set aside $5,000 to begin the repairs on the back and see where we are and go from there. That would give us some time to wrap up some additional funds once the trash pickup is all done.
Vic: They picked up the lift to take back and service it. I have talked to the fire department and they will be willing to be here on standby.
John Festa: I don't feel it is a bad idea to set aside the $5,000.
Vic: There is really not a lot of work on the front and side.
Jason: Make a motion?
Vic: I would like to make a motion to set aside $5,000 to start the work on the east side of the Town Hall.
Jason: Which contractor?
Vic: I can call them both and see if one is busy and the other isn't.
John Festa: That seems reasonable.
Jason: I think we should use the contractor who did the quotes. Jason seconded the motion. Unanimous.
Blogger: All of this looks so reasonable, why in the blue-eyed world did it take a year to get here?
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
A Correction to Chip & Seal Numbers
In the previous post, the cost reported, as stated by John Festa, I believe, who was using a calculator, was $38,460.
You should add the figures yourself, because I have to hand check my own calculator. However, the number that I got (by hand) was $47,760.
Also: Jason said that the road, bridge, and levy funds were in good shape. Of course they are. Paving projects have not begun yet. There may be some hand patching work being done, but nothing more at the moment.
You should add the figures yourself, because I have to hand check my own calculator. However, the number that I got (by hand) was $47,760.
Also: Jason said that the road, bridge, and levy funds were in good shape. Of course they are. Paving projects have not begun yet. There may be some hand patching work being done, but nothing more at the moment.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Trustees 5-15-14: More Budget Woes
Blogger Foreword: First, I have added one thing to the previous post in the discussion of the Bogden rental of the gymnasium last October, in case you read that before today's date, May 19.
Second, the previous post should have ended with Sue Skrovan's comment about air conditioning. That would have been a logical stopping point. I am backing up to pick up there, so there are a few sentences of overlap between posts.
John Festa is now scrutinizing our energy usage in the buildings.
John Festa: The gas and electric bills are enormous. Some months $399 for gas and over $100 for electric usage for two events. We need to figure something out.
Jason: I guess I didn't realize . . . . Sometimes you don't realize stuff . . . .
John Festa: The last meeting we were checking the cushions on the couch looking for change.
Jason: Our road and bridge and levy fund are good. [Blogger: I understand that at least part of this is because one salary and benefits were eliminated when Mike Richards was let go.]
Jason, continuing: Our road and bridge and levy fund are good. Our general fund is what is struggling now. Marie and I texted about that today. Sometimes when we get our millage, we can move things around for the general fund and what we use it for. This is a general fund problem, not a whole budget problem.
We don't have as much in the general fund as we had in the past.
John Festa: They keep cutting our funds and we have to tighten our belts.
[Blogger: First: The general fund reflects not only what funds come in, but also how they are used. The revenue reductions alone do not account for the shrinking amount in the general fund.
Also, I understand that at this point, less than halfway through the year as of April 15/May 1, we have used 51% of --I think--the general fund. I will check on whether it is that or the whole budget. I believe that some funds have essentially been emptied. I will check on that, too.]
Marie: There are certain things we only do every year or two. In 2013 we didn't spend anything on elections because it was an off year. But we spent $8115 [?] in election expenses.
Marie named two other events involving election expenses.
Marie, continuing: When no issue is on the ballot, nothing gets charged back to us.
The Center school will be paid off and leave us another $30,000 plus. $32,380.
The audit is every two years and we have $6100 budgeted for that this year. So that is about $40,480 more in the budget next year.
I have said in the past our local government funds went from over $70,000 to about $26,000. [Also] in past years we had estate taxes coming in, and we used those for capital improvements; but those have been eliminated.
Jason, to John Festa: I am just trying to think of what we are trying to do. Maybe we can make it more front and center that the building is for rent. Make it easier to click on and see that the building is for rent. We don't have a sign for the Civic Center. I don't think that will alleviate the problem, but it might help get more income.
[One of the things I think is interesting is that Jason seems to think that John Festa is a source of wisdom, despite his being the least experienced trustee. Vic is turned to when something needs to be done, mostly.]
Marie: It is not just the Civic Center. The garage is running about the same kind of expenses.
John Festa: Those are things we have to [do]/[look at].
Marie: I am saying that it is not specific to anything.
John Festa: We have to tighten our belts. I will have something soon for the annex.
Jason: I can work with Brent Simon to make that more prevalent [that is the word used].
[Blogger: When the website was getting set up, Jason acted as if he knew exactly how to go about setting up a dynamite electronic representation of the township. Now, he seems to be floundering. What gives? I looked at the website recently, and a number of things leaped out, mostly by their absence. But when the website was reviewed at the previous meeting, Jason had perhaps one or two minor tweaks.]
Vic: I have had people stop in and had a couple of phone calls about Center Road and the berm. This is a big concern--what is going to be done with that? I see us having to set up a Blackbrook Conservancy meeting with the residents there. It is going to begin to wash out.
Continuing: Also--Round 29. [This is a competitive grant-seeking process for road projects.]
Are we going to do anything there? We only have until June 1. We have missed the pre-meeting, but I can talk with Anthony Zumbo about that. He asked if we were going to submit anything. I said I didn't see why not. Maybe we can submit a smaller project.
Continuing: One section of Winchell is looking very bad. It is the third time, and I think we should submit something again.
Jason: Why don't we set up a time.
Vic: It would be Round 29, and it has to be in by June 13.
Jason: What about next week?
Next Thursday, John Festa has a Chagrin River Watershed Partnership meeting, and the zoning commission meets on Thursday.
Marie is not available at all next week because of her daughter's wedding. "You will have to do without me."
Jason: May 27. [He may have something at work or some other commitment.] Then: Shoot for May 27 at 6:45.
That is set.
To Vic: I would call Anthony and let him know.
Vic: Do you definitely want to look at Winchell?
Jason: We have that section of Winchell on the bid book. Nothing is guaranteed, but we have that section on the book for chip and seal. There are some drainage and ditching and culvert replacement that we need to do. There was about 1/4 mile that is in fair shape and everything else isn't too terrible. We have it on the list because it has been there for the past couple of years because we haven't had the money.
Vic: I have gotten a quote back on crack seal.
Jason: Did you talk to Chris Meduri at all about setting up our bid book?
Vic: I didn't have a chance to talk with him about that. If you want, we can hold off on that. I think on repair work it is $15,000 per mile. He is concerned about Timber Point and crack sealing that because of the microseal.
Jason: If you think we should open that tonight because we have to get moving on some of this.
Vic: Yes. The mileage is 13.9 miles.
The bid or estimate for crack sealing to ODOT spec had the following numbers. Your blogger did not get all of the roads because I have to work at getting numbers accurately. A few roads are listed.
$4360
$6400
$5500 on Pioneer Trail\
$7400 on Bowen Road
$4900
$3100
$3700 on West Point[e]
$7300
$5500
Vic: He tried to group them so he wasn't moving all around.
The rough total was $38,460
Vic commented on the work, and it sounded as if not as much or as many roads as in the letter had to be done.
Jason asked Marie for copies and said that we need to move forward on some of this soon.
[Blogger: On 5/19 I had to stop here. The post picks up on 5/20 from the above.]
Vic: Described coming up out of the valley in Cleveland on Alexander Road to Walton Hills. There was so much crack seal that it was almost a coverage, but there were no potholes, no fresh patches, and no blown asphalt. It does not look pretty, but it works.
Marie: What did Anthony say for chip and seal?
Jason: It was about $100,000. We have $90,000 in Road and Bridge and 128 [?] in contractors.
[Blogger: Everyone at the table was looking at printouts, I believe, so they know what the 128 was--$128.00 or $128,000. And I believe the fund was for contractors.]
Jason, continuing: Do you guys want to make a decision on that tonight? Last year this company was the only one bidding and two years ago they blew everyone away with their bid. They do good work.
Vic: If you want to wait on the crack sealing, if we advertise that, we will be discussing this on June 7.
Jason asked about everyone being comfortable with those roads.
Answer: Yes.
Vic: We did Coldbrook last year but it keeps opening up. I will make a motion that we hire Asphalt Fabricators to do the crack sealing pending discussion with Chris Meduri.
This is a logical stopping place. The next item is updates on the Township Hall. My plan is to do separate posts for that, road repair including discussion about Old Frost, and the intention for the township to video record meetings. Public comment may be split into more than one post also, since one of those on zoning became lengthy and detailed. It is also significant enough to be separate so it can get the attention it deserves.
Second, the previous post should have ended with Sue Skrovan's comment about air conditioning. That would have been a logical stopping point. I am backing up to pick up there, so there are a few sentences of overlap between posts.
John Festa is now scrutinizing our energy usage in the buildings.
John Festa: The gas and electric bills are enormous. Some months $399 for gas and over $100 for electric usage for two events. We need to figure something out.
Jason: I guess I didn't realize . . . . Sometimes you don't realize stuff . . . .
John Festa: The last meeting we were checking the cushions on the couch looking for change.
Jason: Our road and bridge and levy fund are good. [Blogger: I understand that at least part of this is because one salary and benefits were eliminated when Mike Richards was let go.]
Jason, continuing: Our road and bridge and levy fund are good. Our general fund is what is struggling now. Marie and I texted about that today. Sometimes when we get our millage, we can move things around for the general fund and what we use it for. This is a general fund problem, not a whole budget problem.
We don't have as much in the general fund as we had in the past.
John Festa: They keep cutting our funds and we have to tighten our belts.
[Blogger: First: The general fund reflects not only what funds come in, but also how they are used. The revenue reductions alone do not account for the shrinking amount in the general fund.
Also, I understand that at this point, less than halfway through the year as of April 15/May 1, we have used 51% of --I think--the general fund. I will check on whether it is that or the whole budget. I believe that some funds have essentially been emptied. I will check on that, too.]
Marie: There are certain things we only do every year or two. In 2013 we didn't spend anything on elections because it was an off year. But we spent $8115 [?] in election expenses.
Marie named two other events involving election expenses.
Marie, continuing: When no issue is on the ballot, nothing gets charged back to us.
The Center school will be paid off and leave us another $30,000 plus. $32,380.
The audit is every two years and we have $6100 budgeted for that this year. So that is about $40,480 more in the budget next year.
I have said in the past our local government funds went from over $70,000 to about $26,000. [Also] in past years we had estate taxes coming in, and we used those for capital improvements; but those have been eliminated.
Jason, to John Festa: I am just trying to think of what we are trying to do. Maybe we can make it more front and center that the building is for rent. Make it easier to click on and see that the building is for rent. We don't have a sign for the Civic Center. I don't think that will alleviate the problem, but it might help get more income.
[One of the things I think is interesting is that Jason seems to think that John Festa is a source of wisdom, despite his being the least experienced trustee. Vic is turned to when something needs to be done, mostly.]
Marie: It is not just the Civic Center. The garage is running about the same kind of expenses.
John Festa: Those are things we have to [do]/[look at].
Marie: I am saying that it is not specific to anything.
John Festa: We have to tighten our belts. I will have something soon for the annex.
Jason: I can work with Brent Simon to make that more prevalent [that is the word used].
[Blogger: When the website was getting set up, Jason acted as if he knew exactly how to go about setting up a dynamite electronic representation of the township. Now, he seems to be floundering. What gives? I looked at the website recently, and a number of things leaped out, mostly by their absence. But when the website was reviewed at the previous meeting, Jason had perhaps one or two minor tweaks.]
Vic: I have had people stop in and had a couple of phone calls about Center Road and the berm. This is a big concern--what is going to be done with that? I see us having to set up a Blackbrook Conservancy meeting with the residents there. It is going to begin to wash out.
Continuing: Also--Round 29. [This is a competitive grant-seeking process for road projects.]
Are we going to do anything there? We only have until June 1. We have missed the pre-meeting, but I can talk with Anthony Zumbo about that. He asked if we were going to submit anything. I said I didn't see why not. Maybe we can submit a smaller project.
Continuing: One section of Winchell is looking very bad. It is the third time, and I think we should submit something again.
Jason: Why don't we set up a time.
Vic: It would be Round 29, and it has to be in by June 13.
Jason: What about next week?
Next Thursday, John Festa has a Chagrin River Watershed Partnership meeting, and the zoning commission meets on Thursday.
Marie is not available at all next week because of her daughter's wedding. "You will have to do without me."
Jason: May 27. [He may have something at work or some other commitment.] Then: Shoot for May 27 at 6:45.
That is set.
To Vic: I would call Anthony and let him know.
Vic: Do you definitely want to look at Winchell?
Jason: We have that section of Winchell on the bid book. Nothing is guaranteed, but we have that section on the book for chip and seal. There are some drainage and ditching and culvert replacement that we need to do. There was about 1/4 mile that is in fair shape and everything else isn't too terrible. We have it on the list because it has been there for the past couple of years because we haven't had the money.
Vic: I have gotten a quote back on crack seal.
Jason: Did you talk to Chris Meduri at all about setting up our bid book?
Vic: I didn't have a chance to talk with him about that. If you want, we can hold off on that. I think on repair work it is $15,000 per mile. He is concerned about Timber Point and crack sealing that because of the microseal.
Jason: If you think we should open that tonight because we have to get moving on some of this.
Vic: Yes. The mileage is 13.9 miles.
The bid or estimate for crack sealing to ODOT spec had the following numbers. Your blogger did not get all of the roads because I have to work at getting numbers accurately. A few roads are listed.
$4360
$6400
$5500 on Pioneer Trail\
$7400 on Bowen Road
$4900
$3100
$3700 on West Point[e]
$7300
$5500
Vic: He tried to group them so he wasn't moving all around.
The rough total was $38,460
Vic commented on the work, and it sounded as if not as much or as many roads as in the letter had to be done.
Jason asked Marie for copies and said that we need to move forward on some of this soon.
[Blogger: On 5/19 I had to stop here. The post picks up on 5/20 from the above.]
Vic: Described coming up out of the valley in Cleveland on Alexander Road to Walton Hills. There was so much crack seal that it was almost a coverage, but there were no potholes, no fresh patches, and no blown asphalt. It does not look pretty, but it works.
Marie: What did Anthony say for chip and seal?
Jason: It was about $100,000. We have $90,000 in Road and Bridge and 128 [?] in contractors.
[Blogger: Everyone at the table was looking at printouts, I believe, so they know what the 128 was--$128.00 or $128,000. And I believe the fund was for contractors.]
Jason, continuing: Do you guys want to make a decision on that tonight? Last year this company was the only one bidding and two years ago they blew everyone away with their bid. They do good work.
Vic: If you want to wait on the crack sealing, if we advertise that, we will be discussing this on June 7.
Jason asked about everyone being comfortable with those roads.
Answer: Yes.
Vic: We did Coldbrook last year but it keeps opening up. I will make a motion that we hire Asphalt Fabricators to do the crack sealing pending discussion with Chris Meduri.
This is a logical stopping place. The next item is updates on the Township Hall. My plan is to do separate posts for that, road repair including discussion about Old Frost, and the intention for the township to video record meetings. Public comment may be split into more than one post also, since one of those on zoning became lengthy and detailed. It is also significant enough to be separate so it can get the attention it deserves.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Trustees 5-15-14: Routine, necessary things (mostly)
Minutes were reviewed for previous meetings.
There was some correspondence about Workers' Comp and the liquor permit for the Mantua Corners Bar and Grill was up for renewal.
Vic suggested tabling a request to cut trees on the property line at West Lawn Cemetery until Brian Tayerle is back from vacation.
Heidi, from Love Insurance, gave a presentation. The best source for what she presented and what matters about it will be in the official minutes of tonight's meeting. That will be in about 2-1/2 weeks, after the next meeting.
Clubs and Committees:
Sue Skrovan reported on the Garden Club and the Ladies Cemetery Association.
Garden Club: The club was scheduled to meet on Saturday morning (5-17) to weed and plant at the Township Hall, Civic Center, and bull pen.
LCA: The group is scheduled to work on Monday 5/19 at the cemetery to place flowers for bequests and do general cleaning and other work.
Road Department: The crew is working on driveway apron washouts and on Mantua Center Road. Some hot patching is being done and dealing with the Pioneer Trail erosion issue is in the offing.
Jason said that with only two guys, it was tough. [Blogger: It sounds as if, even though Marie said that we could not fund a third worker beyond a certain time, Jason's statement is the first step in building a case for a third worker.]
Jason asked if there was anything from the Veterans' Memorial Committee, and Matt Parsons said he had e-mailed the trustees information as well as brought it along, since the e-mail went out a bit late.
Jason, under new business, announced that he had talked to someone at the high school about perhaps having the graphic design students design a logo for the township to identify ourselves. The project would begin in the fall.
John Festa announced that John Dickey, zoning inspector, still needs more help to get the filing in order. The money set aside for Betsy Wolfe to work on that has been used up [I believe].
Jason asked if John Dickey had talked to Teresa Nielsen, who is on the BZA and had offered to do the work as a volunteer.
Wi-Fi: Windstream has shown up at the school and according to John Festa had said that we need to set up for a ground system. John Festa will talk with Frank Horack, Jr.
Vic said he would make that phone call in the morning.
John Festa said he had gotten a couple of complaints from Quail Crest residents about target shooting that was apparently setting off heavy enough explosive rounds to rattle windows and be felt by someone sitting on his porch on Frost Road. The shooting seems to be coming from the gravel pit. [Seems: not sure exactly where it is coming from.] The difficulties of dealing with something like this were discussed briefly.
There was more discussion about that, but there was nothing conclusive that could be done at this point.
Bogden Rental: John Festa announced, I met with the young man and we discussed the party in the annex and the mess and the garbage can [which had not been returned.] He actually took the responsibility and said it should not have happened and wanted to pay what he owes. He brought the garbage can back and gave me a payment of $400. He said, "Is that it, and walk away as friends." We have $400 in cash [blogger's emphasis here].
As far as I am concerned, I would call the prosecutor and drop the charges.
Vic: I would say take the garbage can off--it is about $30.00.
John Festa: So we would give him $145.00 back."
[Larry Leitzow knew to the penny what the charge would come to, while the trustees were working out the amount. I thought that was oddly interesting.
[The other thing that was distinctly odd is that John Festa had a fistful of currency. Why would someone who had been served court papers as the next step in collecting NOT have given the township a check so that, regardless of any township paperwork, he would have his own record and bank statement?
Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice in Wonderland.]
Vic recounted this saga: The first time was that he [Bogden] agreed to the upcharge. But he thought we were overcharging him for the cleanup because we had already held the deposit. That is what he owed us and [we should] return the balance of the money.
Jason: How are we going to handle that?
Marie: [I believe.] It will be a receipt for the $400 and then write a check for the refund.
John Festa: One more issue. This may raise some eyebrows. Recently and doing it not just for the Civic Center but for the annex as well, I want to make sure I have this right. I put the numbers to this and it looks
as if we are not doing very well at the Civic Center. We have had $2150 in revenue and $7400 or so in expenses. It is a $5214 deficit.
Vic: The custodian's salary is not correct.
John Festa said he did not know what it was. [But he's running numbers to make some kind of hostile point.]
Vic: It's too high.
John Festa: We are looking for money and need to look at everything. Even if we double what we charge, we are still going to be short. For each event it costs the township $205. I just wanted to bring this up and have everyone think about it. We are way far from breaking even.
Jason: I am not a professional businessman. It appears that we either have to increase revenue or lower expenses.
To Sue: Is there a way--does Sue have a copy of this?--to increase the numnber of events we have going on there?
Sue: It would be nice to have a sign up that says This Building for Rent and have a notice on the website[duh!] with the rental rates.
No air conditioning means that some people don't want to be there in summer. It goes up and down.
John Festa: I don't know if we can combine everything at the annex. We are probably going to run a deficit there as well.
Sue: People don't have parties if they don't have the money. It depends on the economy.
Blogger: This is a very awkward place to stop. However, the discussion about money and the expense of owning a building goes on for a long time, too long to just keep going here. It doesn't seem routine from this point on in this meeting..
There was some correspondence about Workers' Comp and the liquor permit for the Mantua Corners Bar and Grill was up for renewal.
Vic suggested tabling a request to cut trees on the property line at West Lawn Cemetery until Brian Tayerle is back from vacation.
Heidi, from Love Insurance, gave a presentation. The best source for what she presented and what matters about it will be in the official minutes of tonight's meeting. That will be in about 2-1/2 weeks, after the next meeting.
Clubs and Committees:
Sue Skrovan reported on the Garden Club and the Ladies Cemetery Association.
Garden Club: The club was scheduled to meet on Saturday morning (5-17) to weed and plant at the Township Hall, Civic Center, and bull pen.
LCA: The group is scheduled to work on Monday 5/19 at the cemetery to place flowers for bequests and do general cleaning and other work.
Road Department: The crew is working on driveway apron washouts and on Mantua Center Road. Some hot patching is being done and dealing with the Pioneer Trail erosion issue is in the offing.
Jason said that with only two guys, it was tough. [Blogger: It sounds as if, even though Marie said that we could not fund a third worker beyond a certain time, Jason's statement is the first step in building a case for a third worker.]
Jason asked if there was anything from the Veterans' Memorial Committee, and Matt Parsons said he had e-mailed the trustees information as well as brought it along, since the e-mail went out a bit late.
Jason, under new business, announced that he had talked to someone at the high school about perhaps having the graphic design students design a logo for the township to identify ourselves. The project would begin in the fall.
John Festa announced that John Dickey, zoning inspector, still needs more help to get the filing in order. The money set aside for Betsy Wolfe to work on that has been used up [I believe].
Jason asked if John Dickey had talked to Teresa Nielsen, who is on the BZA and had offered to do the work as a volunteer.
Wi-Fi: Windstream has shown up at the school and according to John Festa had said that we need to set up for a ground system. John Festa will talk with Frank Horack, Jr.
Vic said he would make that phone call in the morning.
John Festa said he had gotten a couple of complaints from Quail Crest residents about target shooting that was apparently setting off heavy enough explosive rounds to rattle windows and be felt by someone sitting on his porch on Frost Road. The shooting seems to be coming from the gravel pit. [Seems: not sure exactly where it is coming from.] The difficulties of dealing with something like this were discussed briefly.
There was more discussion about that, but there was nothing conclusive that could be done at this point.
Bogden Rental: John Festa announced, I met with the young man and we discussed the party in the annex and the mess and the garbage can [which had not been returned.] He actually took the responsibility and said it should not have happened and wanted to pay what he owes. He brought the garbage can back and gave me a payment of $400. He said, "Is that it, and walk away as friends." We have $400 in cash [blogger's emphasis here].
As far as I am concerned, I would call the prosecutor and drop the charges.
Vic: I would say take the garbage can off--it is about $30.00.
John Festa: So we would give him $145.00 back."
[Larry Leitzow knew to the penny what the charge would come to, while the trustees were working out the amount. I thought that was oddly interesting.
[The other thing that was distinctly odd is that John Festa had a fistful of currency. Why would someone who had been served court papers as the next step in collecting NOT have given the township a check so that, regardless of any township paperwork, he would have his own record and bank statement?
Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice in Wonderland.]
Vic recounted this saga: The first time was that he [Bogden] agreed to the upcharge. But he thought we were overcharging him for the cleanup because we had already held the deposit. That is what he owed us and [we should] return the balance of the money.
Jason: How are we going to handle that?
Marie: [I believe.] It will be a receipt for the $400 and then write a check for the refund.
John Festa: One more issue. This may raise some eyebrows. Recently and doing it not just for the Civic Center but for the annex as well, I want to make sure I have this right. I put the numbers to this and it looks
as if we are not doing very well at the Civic Center. We have had $2150 in revenue and $7400 or so in expenses. It is a $5214 deficit.
Vic: The custodian's salary is not correct.
John Festa said he did not know what it was. [But he's running numbers to make some kind of hostile point.]
Vic: It's too high.
John Festa: We are looking for money and need to look at everything. Even if we double what we charge, we are still going to be short. For each event it costs the township $205. I just wanted to bring this up and have everyone think about it. We are way far from breaking even.
Jason: I am not a professional businessman. It appears that we either have to increase revenue or lower expenses.
To Sue: Is there a way--does Sue have a copy of this?--to increase the numnber of events we have going on there?
Sue: It would be nice to have a sign up that says This Building for Rent and have a notice on the website[duh!] with the rental rates.
No air conditioning means that some people don't want to be there in summer. It goes up and down.
John Festa: I don't know if we can combine everything at the annex. We are probably going to run a deficit there as well.
Sue: People don't have parties if they don't have the money. It depends on the economy.
Blogger: This is a very awkward place to stop. However, the discussion about money and the expense of owning a building goes on for a long time, too long to just keep going here. It doesn't seem routine from this point on in this meeting..
Thursday, May 15, 2014
5-1-14 Trustees: Wait, there's more
Foreword: What follows was so short and so odd that I didn't take notes on it, but here it is. Print cannot convey tone of voice or facial expression
After Dawn was done, Jason asked for a motion to pay the bills.
Marie interjected a question about whether the trustees were going to open the three equipment bids that had come in, and Jason affirmed that they would do that after paying the bills.
This is what transpired next:
Jason: I am glad to see everyone is so positive about the actions [tonight]. Everyone has very nice things to say about what we are doing.
Blogger: That was heavily sarcastic. Next:
Jason: I would just like to mention that we do a lot of good things and it is disheartening to come and hear from the public and hear the negative things. You can do 20 great things and there are some people who focus on the negative.
John Festa: There are always a few.
Then the bills were paid.
The rest of the story/history: Jason has apparently forgotten how Mark and Vic were brutalized by Larry's bunch while Jason sat at the table with them. And apparently it was OK with him that Dawn was snotty, insolent, condescending, and insulting to Vic at a previous meeting. I think he did make some admonition about being respectful, but I thought it was feeble.
To be blunt, Jason doesn't know what negative is. He should go onto the private/rogue website and look at the comments board there: lies, inaccuracies (a charitable word for getting it dead flat wrong), and unsupported opinion and name calling that rank right down there with thirteen-year-old girls on social media.
Harry Truman had a little sign on his desk in the White House: If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
The township has been losing $100,000 a year for the last three years. Is that kind of hemmorrhage to be ignored because there are new signs at several highly visible places? [That is not a shot at anyone not at the front table; it has to do with cosmetics trumping substance.]
I will say that it has been a while since Jason told Marie to be quiet, this is a trustees' meeting.
After Dawn was done, Jason asked for a motion to pay the bills.
Marie interjected a question about whether the trustees were going to open the three equipment bids that had come in, and Jason affirmed that they would do that after paying the bills.
This is what transpired next:
Jason: I am glad to see everyone is so positive about the actions [tonight]. Everyone has very nice things to say about what we are doing.
Blogger: That was heavily sarcastic. Next:
Jason: I would just like to mention that we do a lot of good things and it is disheartening to come and hear from the public and hear the negative things. You can do 20 great things and there are some people who focus on the negative.
John Festa: There are always a few.
Then the bills were paid.
The rest of the story/history: Jason has apparently forgotten how Mark and Vic were brutalized by Larry's bunch while Jason sat at the table with them. And apparently it was OK with him that Dawn was snotty, insolent, condescending, and insulting to Vic at a previous meeting. I think he did make some admonition about being respectful, but I thought it was feeble.
To be blunt, Jason doesn't know what negative is. He should go onto the private/rogue website and look at the comments board there: lies, inaccuracies (a charitable word for getting it dead flat wrong), and unsupported opinion and name calling that rank right down there with thirteen-year-old girls on social media.
Harry Truman had a little sign on his desk in the White House: If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
The township has been losing $100,000 a year for the last three years. Is that kind of hemmorrhage to be ignored because there are new signs at several highly visible places? [That is not a shot at anyone not at the front table; it has to do with cosmetics trumping substance.]
I will say that it has been a while since Jason told Marie to be quiet, this is a trustees' meeting.
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