Trustees 7-15: EPA proposal re trash/recycling

The EPA has made a proposal to change the way recycling is handled by setting up a consortium which would take the recycling out of the county.  There was a meeting I believe at the Commissioners' office before the 7/3 trustees meeting which Vic made the time to attend and reported on.  You could check that blog post.

At this meeting, which I did not arrive at until 8 p.m., an EPA rep, Bill Stiner of Portage County Recycling, and a woman whom I do not know and whose name I did not check  were all present.  She is apparently connected to Portage County Recycling. This post is a condensed version of my notes after arriving.

Jason commented on the high level of service we get from Portage County Recycling.

Vic:  Every time we have been in a consortium, it begins [with] low [fees] and then increases.  We have had this experience with insurance.  Every 2-3 years, we have to go look again to get the price back down.

Vic, continuing:  At all the meetings I have attended, Portage County is held up as a model.  The district is
making money and upgrading equipment.

EPA:  What is being proposed now didn't exist 25 years ago.

Jason:  People think they can get a better deal.  They are not looking at all the benefits.

John Festa:  With all due respect, what is the EPA going to write that will be better?  What about the smaller haulers who are going to be put out of business?  These big multi-level businesses are going to push their weight around.

EPA:  Portage County is the only one that manages [to make a] profit.  [Blogger:  Actually, for governments and non-profits, it is called a cash carryover.  The Portage County Recycling operation has a $1.8 million carryover, which is why they can upgrade their trucks, which cost in the neighborhood of $350,000 for the new ones which would be able to collect from 1100 customers per shift, rather than about 300, as now.  And I have to say that in looking back at my notes to check this paragraph, I have found the numbers for the amount that can be collected per shift, but not the cost of the trucks.  My notes are not a verbatim transcript; I may have remembered the cost correctly, or maybe not.  They're expensive.]

Jason to Bill Stiner:  What if 34% want to go outside and join the consortium?  Is the Portage County district still sustainable?  [Note:  The requirement is that 75% of the entities involved must approve.  That did not happen at an earlier meeting because one locale did not have a quorum.]

Woman:  We have economy of scale.  Reducing our customer base reduces our ability to have that.  In a city you can collect a lot more than in a rural area.  We weight that so every citizen gets a benefit.  You can collect a lot more in a denser population areas like cities.

Jason:  You can not say that it will be cheaper unless the community has a single hauler.How many other places have passed with 75%? 

Bill Stiner:  When I wrote this, some misconceptions were cleared.  The last time the current plan was ratified, it was 99.6% in favor.  One community did not have a quorum that night.  [This affected the percentage.]  Because of the way the plan is written, we can [can not?] increase our carryover.

Continuing: With us, you have instant contact.  Just about every elected official has my cell phone number.  Customer service is the highest priority for us.  On the whole, Portage County is very green.  A high level of service is important to us.  161,000 people in the county are who we answer to.

Jason:  So if ?? percent of the communities went outside your services, could you maintain the level of service?

Bill:  It would be very difficult.

Vic:  I know there are a lot of grants to pay for the equipment.  Two of the   trucks were purchased in Portage County/Mantua Township.  With the consortium, that would go away.

Woman:  A lot of these haulers have landfills.  Right now, recycling makes money.  The private sector doesn't want rural areas --they want the cities.  IF you don't like it, don't join.  If we lose too much customer base, you won't have a choice. 

EPA:  We have been accused of trying to destroy the district.  That is not the case.  Regarding landfills:  dumping in landfills now causes those haulers and owners huge problems.

It was now 8:35, and Jason asked if there were any more questions. 

EPA:  This is more complicated than we had hoped.  We hope now to have a plan by the end of the year.

Vic:  I think it would be safe to say we are not interested in the consortium.

The other two trustees agreed with that.

Dave Pollard:  This is an analogy regarding efficiency.  To Jason:  You know what that has done in the agricultural sector.  It has cost thousands of people their livelihood.  A strong central government is more efficient, but it is not more just or fair.  I don't think that a centralized system will be better than what he have now.
In the meetings [about single trash haulers] people let you know they did not want a single hauler--they wanted a choice.  This country was built on choice, but we keep running into reducing the choices.  This consolidation would put people out of work.  I have seen the Campbell trucks on the road.  They are humongous and have one operator picking up t-3 times as much as one of the recycling trucks can handle.  People will be out out of work, and it sounds as if the only people who have the say are the elected ones, not the ones who will be paying the vast majority of the bills.

 I think we all have issues with the EPA and how it handles things.  Ther is a company in Lake County that takes polymers and turns them into fuel.  I don't hear the EPA promoting that.

I prefer what we have.  In agriculture we have gone from a nation that fed the world to one that imports food because of efficiency.

Bill Stiner: I am well aware of that company and in the EPA's defense, and in my own experience, we get a lot of people with ideas.  A company wanted us to leverage $310 million in debt to do it.  If the Columbus EPA had a nickel for every idea that will save us all, the EPA guy could come in driving a Rolls Royce.  The EPA have to distinguish between dreams and the real thing.  The same thing is going on in Akron.  The plan is very noble, but a lot of the time the public is the one being asked to foot the bill.  The EPA is called in to sort things out.

[Blogger:  The trustees seemed to share the conviction that our recycling service isn't broken, so why is the EPA trying to "fix" the only one that seems to be working?]. 




 

Dave's Signs: Celebrate!

Just in case you missed it somehow, the school is 100 years old this year, and this is what's on Dave's signs about it:


        CELEBRATE!
           100th Anniversary

         Mantua Center School
         August 9     1-3:30- ??

         Senator John Eklund
            Guest Speaker

           Cake    Ice Cream
                 Pot Luck

         Ring the Bell

That's all for now, folks.  Come on August 9.  This is the only time any of us will be able to do this.  Even children born right now will not see the building's second hundredth anniversary.*  Well, a few, maybe.  But this is special.  Come for the formal things, and hang out as long as you have stories to tell and friends to visit with.  If we don't have enough potluck, we can send out for pizza.

*It will still be here then.  It was built for the ages.

Trustees 7-3-14: Public Comment, much abbreviated

Public Comment this post is going to be a summary of each person's remarks, and that may be all there will ever be to this one.  The last two weeks have been packed, and there is a meeting tonight, July 15--which means there will be new things to put into the blog.

First was Mark Hall, Loris Drive.  Mark asked a number of questions about the budget hearing that had been held  just before the regular meeting.  The purport of his questions seemed to be that the budget is still shrinking.  This issue is not one that should just be dismissed because the week has been so busy; I will check further on that and may--may, not promising--do a post only about that.

Bob Zulla, Skinner Road:  Bob was pleased that the trustees had requested a traffic survey on the road but did not think that three days for the counter to be on the road was enough time.  He said that there had been speed signs on the road at one time, and Vic said that they had been there because of a petition by residents in--I think--1977.  At any rate, it is in the county or state's hands at this point, and if the mill of the gods grinds slowly, that of government may be even slower.

Carole Pollard, Allyn Road:  I gave the trustees copies of information about the Ladies Cemetery Association, a chartered club with its beginning in 1901, and the Mantua Center Garden Club, organized in 1964.  My reason is that the whole website has only organizational things, ditto the links to other sites.  What is there for people to do in Mantua Township if they want to get involved in something?  Nothing, based on the website.

As of today, July 15, nothing had been put onto the website.

I also mentioned the August 9 anniversary celebration of the Mantua Center school building.  It is not on the calendar, either.
Senator John Eklund will be speaking, by the way.  It might be nice--polite, even--if Jason saw fit to put the date on the calendar.

Bob Waters, Old Frost Road.  For anyone who doesn't know it, Old Frost is Mantua Township's last unpaved mile.  Mr. Waters was at the meeting to deliver a very calm, reasonable request for the road to be paved, stating that every year since he built his house--thirteen years ago now, I believe--the road is always going to be paved "next year."  He thought that only one family on the road did not want it paved, which will make it an even greater speed hazard than it now is.

I believe that Jason pointed out that at present the road is on the plan, but that a lot of preparation has  to be done.  I, again, believe that he said that something may be done later this year to get started.

Steve Zelinski, S.R. 82, wished everyone a happy Independence Day and reminded us of our founding fathers and all of the veterans.

 

Trustees 7-3-14: Door for Township Hall, odds & ends

Vic, Township Hall:  We found a wooden door that is on order.

Jason asked the price.

Vic:  It is Douglas fir--$814 for everything, including freight.  From Lowe's and Home Depot, the quote for a metal door came to $455 with $30.00 that could be deducted for anti-rot.  There will be money from the historical society and the restoration society.  We would have to pay $415.00, the same as for a metal door.

John Festa:  How many hours [?] are involved in this?

Vic commented on that, but I could not figure out what John Festa was talking about with that question.
Vic explained about the run-around on tracking information for the door and the order.

Jason asked about the newsletter.

John Festa said he had spoken with the superintendent and that he had suggested waiting until August when  everyone is back from the summer..  John Festa was willing to wait.

Then there was something about the video. Vic said something about that, but it was not clear.

The the discussion turned to the website.
John Festa:  I had some thoughts about it.  There is too much text and not enough eye appeal and pictures.
He asked Brent Simon if making those changes could be self-administered.

Answer:  Potentially, but not yet.

John Festa:  There are still a lot of blanks that need to be filled.  He asked Brent to remove one for the Road Department that is out of date.  Then he said that he wanted pictures of the Zoning Commission and the BZA, especially the chairmen.
JF:  I think the BZA is doing a good job.  Our chairmen are all doing a very good job.

Jason said something to Betsy Woolf and Sue Skrovan about the photos

There was some more discussion, but not much, on the topic of photos and those boards and commissions doing a good job.

Jason to Jim Aldrich:  It was a question about fees--are they relevant or appropriate.
Jim: It has been 5 years and they are probably due for review.  We have been discussing in our cemetery committee how to deal with the foundation fees and simplify them.  [Apparently there is quite a bit of variation depending on dimensions, among other things.]

Vic:  No one can tell you whether it is square feet or cubic feet.
Jim:  Material has gone up a lot in the last 5 years, also.  Sometime this year [or this summer] we should come up with a new standard.

Jason commented that we are still waiting for final spring cleanup results/figures.

Public comment was next and will be the next and final post for this meeting.

Trustees 7-3-14: Our roads; Vets' Memorial Insurance; State & County

OK, to be clearer than the heading:  This post contains some brief information about plans for our roads; a question about the driveway on Skinner; questions about insurance for the veterans' memorial; the bridge replacement on S.R. 44 south of the Village; and Vic"s report concerning recycling and involving the Ohio EPA.

Road Department:  Vic had nothing for the department but wanted to clear up something about a couple of  pieces of equipment for the website.

Jason raised a question about how to handle holiday pay during the period when the road crew is working four 10-hour days.  Finally, he made a motion to follow the county's lead on this issue.  Seconded and passed.

Jason also mentioned ditching and a culvert on Winchell Road.

John Festa had taken photographs showing the water problem to send to Chagrin River Watershed Partnership.
Continuing:  Then he asked Vic if he had talked to Todd Lamb about Maynard's driveway.


Vic:  We approved that at the last meeting.

John Festa:  Do you know if it has been done?

[Blogger:  Two things here.  First, this looks like a fairly harmless set of inquiries, doesn't it?  But it is also an inquiry about whether Vic has been doing his job.  Second, if John Festa wants to know if anything has been done, why not drive past and look at the driveway?  But he wouldn't be able to question Vic if he did that.]

Frank Horack, veterans'  memorial:  The committee is still working on flagpole donations and help putting them up.

John Festa:  Have we ever discussed the amount of insurance to have on that?

Frank:  I came up with a cost of about $130,000. 

Here, I did not note who was speaking to whom, but I will give the words.

Why is the township going to have insurance on that? 

Someone to Vic:  That was covered under our last policy.  Ha it been dedicated to the township?

Frank:  Not yet.

Vic:  Have you asked ____ about that?

Frank:  Not yet.

Vic:  I don't know why the township would be paying that at this time.  I think some kind of approval needs to be done.

John Festa:  The one in Garrettsville cost about $95,000.  [Note:  I am not sure whether this is insurance value or the cost to build.]

[There was some more discussion about the memorial and insurance.  I remember something to the effect that things on township land become the responsibility of the township.
I also distinctly remember all of the assurances that the memorial would be at no cost to the township.  Is the veterans' memorial committee paying the bill for the electricity to light the flag?  And is the committee going to pay the additional cost of the insurance?
Finally, if you haven't seen Garrettsville's memorial, you probably should.  Turn left at the traffic light and then right onto the next street.  The memorial is on the left side of that street.]

There was more about roads and crack seal and a couple of cracks clear across the part of Frost Road between Diagonal and Mennonite Roads.

John Festa reported on the bridge replacement project on S.R. 44 south of the Village.  He gave Marie a list of the contractors.  He said that there is a lot more involved than just having a machine come in.  The work will probably begin mid July.  S.R. 44 will be paved from S.R. 303 north to the bridge over the river side channel.  Once the work gets to the bridge, it will be demolished and the road will be closed for about 75 days.
The main detour southbound on S.R. 44 will begin at Mantua Corners:  east on S.R. 82 to 700; south to 303 and west to S.R. 44.
The local detour will be East Main Street to Peck to Canada Road and Canada Road to S.R. 44.  The problem John Festa quoted for Canada Road is that the bridge there has a 7 ton load limit.   [If you have not driven on Canada Road, be prepared to go at a walking pace.  Well, that's what it would have to be if the road is as it was some months ago when I tried it just to see.]

Betsy Woolf intervened to tell John Festa that Main Street goes north and south.  The east-west street is High Street.

John Festa continued:  There will be interceptor pipes of various kinds.  The OHEPA is involved with debris falling into the channel.  Chief Stoneberger would like to see additional signage for those not accustomed to driving those roads.
S.R. 44 south of the Village will be closed during the Potato Festival.  The project engineer will have a trailer in Mantua.

Vic:  I attended the EPA meeting for the recycling center.  They can meet with us and will be in the area around July 10. 

Parts of the meeting became very heated.  Two commissioners and a number of haulers were there.  The recycling center has just spent a lot of money [$100,000?] fixing up the facility.  If the plant is shut down, 31 people will lose their jobs but it seems as if the commissioners are intent on keeping the plant open,  keeping the jobs, and keeping the operation in Portage County.

We can schedule a meeting with them at the Civic Center or the gymnasium.

The plan was supposed to be done by June 30, but that did not happen.  They need to get a plan that will fit Portage County.  Everybody is going to a single pickup that puts everything into one chamber.  Sometimes with the divided chambers, one is full and the truck has to go back to the center.  Portage County is interested in selling the sorting to someone else.  The fee schedule shows a deficit for the first year or two, but the recycling center has a $1.8 million [profit?]

[Blogger:  I don't know the word Vic used after the amount of money, but it was to the good, whether "profit," "income," or "surplus.."  Or something else?  Not sure.]

Vic:  Setting it up is in the EPA's hands and that is why they want to have the meeting.  There are communities that want to be able to go out on their own and try to make the recycling cheaper.  If we want to schedule a meeting, we can.  We can pick a date.
 
Some discussion followed; Vic will handle that.

Marie asked about weight tickets for the spring cleanup.  Apparently we still have received nothing final for that event.

Blogger:  This is a logical stopping place.  What's coming up next is about the door for the township hall and some things about the proposed newsletter.

Trustees' Meeting 7-3-14; Various regular reports.

There was a budget hearing before the regular meeting.  Your faithful blogger forgot that and came in on the end of it.  The minutes should be posted on the Township website, and I have made a note to myself to check something from the part of the meeting that I was present for,  I will report on that after the blogs for this meeting have all been posted.

At the beginning of the regular meeting, Marie Stehli announced that the auditor's report was available for viewing on the lectern.
Marie also mentioned a certificate of attendance for Brian Tayerle at a conference on drug and alcohol abuse.

Two representatives of the bicycle time trials came to present information about that event, scheduled for the last full weekend in July.  Mike Cantana is the race day contact, and George Melios is the race director  .  Mike passed out information on the race and a course map.  A sheriff's deputy and EMT will be in attendance.  They will be stationed at the Center.  In addition, the cycling group's EM T will be stationed at the school.  No  more than 20 bikes at a time will be on the course, and Mr. Melios stated that they did not in any way want to be disruptive.

Hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m..  There are 4 left turns on the course; traffic will be stopped at the intersections, but that should only be for about 10 seconds.  The school building will be open on Saturday evening for a pasta dinner for participants, and the Civic Center and school will both be open on race day.

The organizers have checked with the church and made arrangements not to interfere.

Fees for the race till be going to the medical bills of a long-time member who suffered an injury and then had an insurance problem.

Vic:  We still need to get together and sign the contracts.

The start gate will be at the township garage.

Vic:  So you will need some kind of electric eye.

John Festa offered to help with newspaper coverage.

Zoning, John Dickey:  Income was $545.00.  Two new residences have required permits, plus various small projects and some verbal notices to people.
Court actions:  PJC  Enterprises--[we] have received a notice about that from the county prosecutor.  Mr. Zuver is cleaning up his premises nicely.  The court date for Carlton Enterprises is set for July 17, continuing for as long as it takes. 

John Dickey had attended the quarterly county meeting for zoning inspectors and reported that Mantua Township is ahead of the game because our zoning book is so clear and detailed.

He reported that work on getting the records into an order he can use is ongoing. Realtors cannot sell a property/house until all permits for the building are in order.  Work continues on the filing, and he requested again that Betsy Woolf be allowed to come in and work on finishing the filing.

Jason asked about Teresa Nielsen, who had volunteered to work on the files and might be able to help out a little.

There was discussion about a refund on a zoning issue that had gone to the BZA.

When asked how much work remained on the filing, John Dickey reported that he can't tell that.  Betsy, however, thought that a couple of months might do it.  Some older files do not have correct legal descriptions and can take up to about a half hour each.

Jason asked about the fee schedule.  He and Vic had some discussion about that.  The new fee schedule is still in draft form.  The trustees looked at the fee schedule, with Vic giving needed background and clarification.  There was also discussion about whether the zoning filing fee was too low.
Vic commented that by the time you pay the board members for a BZA hearing, the $325 00 fee was just about enough to break even.
Marie asked when the new schedule would become effective.
Vic:  Probably next meeting.

There was some discussion about the amount of money set aside and still available for the office filing for zoning.  Six hundred dollars had been set aside.  Jason moved to set aside another $600 so Betsy Woolf could assist with the zoning records.  Seconded and passed.

Cemetery:  Foundation fees, $225.00.  Burial fees for June, $325.00.  

This is a convenient place to stop.  Next will be the road department, veterans' memorial (very brief), and information about the bridge replacement south of Mantua and the detour routes.

Next Trustees' Meeting 7-15-15

Just FYI, the second trustees' meeting in July will be on Tuesday, July 15, not on the customary Thursday.  Time of 7:30 and location at the Township Hall are not changed.

Before that, there MAY be a special meeting during this week, July 7-11.  There have been discussions and meetings about recycling, and the Ohio EPA  is supposed to be in this area.  A meeting may be called at the Township Hall to discuss that issue.

Right now, it's all tentative.  Stay tuned.