New Russia Township at a glance

At the April 1 meeting of the New Russia Township trustees (Richard Williams, John Piwinski and Frank Pakish present), the trustees:

Trustee business

* Williams reported he had spoken with Cable Co-op regarding the amplifier problems at the town hall. Trustees voted to spend $500 for the purchase of a new amplifier for the town hall. Ralph Potts, Cable Co-op director, would like to meet to discuss the new administration building equipment for the meeting room. A tentative meeting was scheduled.

* Presented a new employee reporting structure for the trustees to consider. Piwinski questioned the custodial staff reporting directly to the trustees.

* Discussed road ditch cleaning - all versus only select ditches. Piwinski stated he believed the staff could do all the ditch cleaning necessary in house. Previous estimates from Jan. 14 meeting were costly. Pakish felt there may be a man power problem for ditch cleaning and perhaps a request for proposal for Butternut and Parsons roads would be okay for now.

Pakish moved to amend previous resolution no. 2008-03-35 for only those road ditches on Butternut Ridge Road from Oberlin Road to Pyle Road and Parsons Road in its entirety. Many issues were raised and the trustees agreed the contract would be all-inclusive. It was approved 2-1 with Piwinski dissenting.

* Deputy Joe Greiner is now the community policing officer for New Russia Township as well as other townships. Deputy Curtis is the other community policing officer for Lorain County. Deputy Barnes is now a K-9 officer. Greiner may be reached at 329-3749. He presented the report of the 40 most recent calls of service.

* Suggested appointment of a park board of five to seven people to oversee the park. Also possibly the creation of a similar cemetery board. Piwinski stated he felt these are just additional layers of bureaucracy. The township has the staff and board of trustees capable of working together to oversee the park and cemetery.

* Presented a list of 16 projects for 2008 that have been considered over the past five years. Williams moved to adopt all the projects presented to be completed in 2008; motion died from lack of second.

Staff reports

* Fred Swanson presented a sample letter prepared by Tom Papas, Drug Mart attorney, requesting support of a traffic light at the intersection of State Route 58 and Butternut Ridge Road they would like area businesses and residents to send to state representatives. The letter met with no objection from the board of trustees.

* Reported there is a Russia Road resident whose property is both in unincorporated New Russia Township and South Amherst and was contacted by AWIN regarding participation in the Pay As You Throw Program. Mr. Swanson asked the trustees when they may be making a decision regarding participation in the program. Trustees are still looking into the AWIN proposal.

* Requested comments on the cemetery software presented at a previous meeting. Pakish stated he has questions to be addressed directly to Pontem. Piwinski stated he viewed the system at the Pontem booth in Columbus at the winter conference. He would like them to come and demonstrate the system and would also like to know how much this may add to the cost of gravesites. Pakish will coordinate this demonstration.

* Matt Hignett reported the International dump truck has a cracked windshield. Approximate cost of parts to repair is $250. Installation cost is $165. The trustees approved repairs.

* Discussed the Lorain County engineer's inspection and recommendations for the Garfield Road Culvert #486 repair. He presented three quotes for the repair work in one-day as follows (township to provide all materials): Turnbull Plumbing & Heating $3,250, no traffic control: Gilgenbach & Sons $2,275, includes traffic control; and Amber Trucking & Excavating $2,050, no traffic control. The trustees hired Gilgenbach & Sons, 2-1 with Williams dissenting.

* Explained the parking lots are in need of attention and additional gravel. Requested the purchase of 100 tons of #57 limestone for the parking lots and presented per ton costs from three suppliers as follows: Gregory Trucking $15.65; Messenberg, $15.30; and C & S, $17.15. Williams stated this should wait for three weeks until the RFP has been received for stone. Pakish stated the RFP needs quantities in order to get low prices, otherwise the township may just get the regular per ton purchase price. Piwinski moved to purchase 100 tons of #57 limestone from Messenberg at a cost of $15.30/ton not to exceed a 10 percent allowance. The motion passed 2-1 with Williams dissenting.

* Warrants for payroll, bills and investments totaling $235,668.43 were presented for review and approval for payment.

* Pakish reviewed points addressed in the Lorain County prosecutor's review of the proposed contract for the administration building project as follows:

1. Section 1.6.1: Use and ownership of drawings; a drawings addendum will be issued by the architect.

2. Sections 4.4.6, 4.5, 4.6: Binding mediation or arbitration; addendum will be issued.

3. Section 11.4.7: Waiver of subrogation; OTARMA Insurance will not be requesting a change and will be sending correspondence. OTARMA will also be sending builders risk insurance limits also.

Pakish moved approving the signing of the contract for the administration building project with State Wide Contractors LLC conditional upon receiving correspondence from the insurance company and addendums from the architect; seconded by Piwinski. Discussion: It was felt the board should have the prosecutor sign off on all the changes. Pakish withdrew his motion and Piwinski withdrew his second.

Pakish moved once the board received Burnham & Flower's acceptance of the contract and the Lorain County prosecutor approved Burnham & Flower's letter that the board proceed to sign the contract for the administration building project with State Wide Contractors LLC; seconded by Williams. The motion was approved 2-1 with Piwinski dissenting.

* Piwinski requested the letter from Steve Jackson be read. Williams read the letter. Piwinski suggested taking Jackson's advice that future meetings such as these be notified through official correspondence. He asked if letters were sent to all members who did not attend. He reminded the board that such correspondence should be copied to the trustee correspondence file as a public record.

Public concerns

* Rick Justin asked if there had been further hearings on the landfill. Fred Swanson stated there had been no other hearings to date. He asked about the septic system for the administration building and was informed no addition was needed at this time.

* Donna Forbush requested an explanation of why she was not reappointed to the zoning board of appeals. She asked if it was because of her performance or her views expressed over the proposed zoning change. Williams stated the board decision was a business decision. Forbush requested a letter from the trustees in explanation.

* Patti Brubaker asked about the logic behind a permanent campsite when the park closes as dusk. Williams stated it would be a daytime site or overnight with special permission. She asked about ice skating when the park is not even open in the winter. She also stated she understood the joint zoning meeting was a meet and greet meeting and didn't think it was mandatory. Williams stated that any time the board calls a meeting, every effort should be made to attend.

* Pakish discussed the purchase of equipment items needed, i.e. trailers. He moved to approve the purchase of a 5x8 H&S Model UT58 landscape trailer at a cost not to exceed $3,000, which was approved 2-1 with Williams dissenting.

* Pakish moved to approve the purchase of a Moritz 20' low profile, heavy duty, flatbed trailer at a cost not to exceed $5,500 which was approved 2-1 with Williams dissenting.

* Discussed the roll of the F250 into the shop service fleet and possible purchase of another vehicle to replace the GMC. He questioned the need for a midsize SUV for all staff.

* Piwinski spoke to Donna Forbush stating that he tried to appoint her but his motion died from lack of second.

* Jim Simms asked the board what happened to the resident survey that was discussed at a previous meeting to find out what residents wanted in the park.