At the Windham Township Board of Trustees meeting, there was further discussion about what do next concerning the motion that had been approved by the Board on March 17 to increase the property lines from 200 to 250 feet concerning residents appearing on the county auditor’s list of their neighbors’ applications for varations on substandard lots.
The Board sought the approval of the Windham Township Board of Zoning Appeals but the BZA wished to keep the property line at 200 feet.
“We sent it back to them,” said Trustee, Vice Chairman, and Cemetery Contact Rich Gano. “We modified what they had given us and their stance is that they like it the way it is but they will send it out to the Portage County Regional Planning Commission.
According to Board of Zoning Appeals Chairman Todd Phillips, the BZA could not send the motion back to the Board.
“They had a public meeting and came up with a determination and they sent it back to this Board and this Board had a public meeting and a determination that said no we want it to stay,” he added. “They can’t decide they did not like your decision and send it back to you.”
Trustee and road contact Brian Miller said that Todd Peetz, the Director of the PCRPC, had previously proposed adding a grandfather clause that exempted owners of the substandard lots from needing variances, which made up about 80% of the Township’s substandard lots.
Trustee, Chairman and Fire Contact Dan Burns did not think that was a viable option.
“At the end of the day, we wanted it done so people could build more houses so keeping it at 200 feet does not work,” he said.
Gano said he would consult with the PCRPC and Chris Meduri. Division Chief of the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office Civil Division to get the questions ironed out.
The Board’s motion to increase the property line to 250 feet could be carried out but without the cooperation from the BZA, property owners could also be tied up in meetings with the BZA for a while.
The Board approved a motion for bank reconciliation, when Fiscal Officer Casey Timmons went through all of the records to make sure all checks had been cleared and the money was accounted for at Middlefield Bank.
When discussing the roads, Miller said that all roadsides had been cut and the weeds surrounding the signs had been pulled. He added that Bryant Road needed to be chip sealed but acknowledged they could not afford to perform a thorough chip seal and may only do a partial one.
Burns also said that telephone poles that had been knocked down during the EF1 Tornado were still lying in a ditch.
When discussing the cemeteries, Miller said that a piece of land near the new cemetery on North Main Street that the Board had considered buying carried an asking price of approximately $342,000 so the Board decided not to proceed with purchasing the land.
Burns said the wooden steps in the new cemetery were removed and a platform of one step was installed, making it easier for people to stand on the concrete to chat and plant flowers. He added that seven new headstones had also been planted.
Zoning Inspector Jake Sweet said he issued a permit for a resident’s project to install a back porch on Gotham Road and also signed an affidavit from the Prosecutor’s office regarding three properties that were delinquent on taxes.
He also provided an update of the vacant property on State Route 303 and the grant that would cover the property’s clean-up.
“It’s abandoned and we have been working on all of it for these months and the trustees will sign some paperwork which seems to be the next step in that process,” he said. “Nothing has been officially announced on whether we were awarded the grant yet.”
The Board had also not received news from the BZA about their proposal to decrease the frontage of substandard lots from 200 feet to 150 feet.
Burns said that the Fire Department was covering more shifts than they had in the past but were still short-staffed. He also said the Fire Department still needed to replace one of the ambulances. He had researched about how much of a levy would be required to be passed in order to have enough money to buy a new ambulance.
“We do not have the money and even if we did, nobody wants the levy,” he noted. “I just hate that one day because we do not have a good ambulance, we will not be able to help somebody but they are trying and doing what they can. There is only so much tax money that they get.”
In old business, the Board discussed the Portage Foundation Disaster Relief Fund, which had collected approximately $13,700 in donations. Residents Troy and Siobhan Busta were in attendance to talk about their ongoing frustrations with their insurance company.
“Our insurance company has still not come through for us,” Siobhan said. “It is two months later and our roof, windows, pool, and our property is the same if not worse right now. It is worse than when the tornado happened. When they did decide to finally get back to us, they are not doing what they promised that they would.”
Burns provided them a phone number of an associate of his who was in direct contact with the people in Columbus who oversaw the insurance companies in Northeast Ohio.
Timmons proposed that the Board move $500,000 into a money market account at Middlefield Bank. That account would be guaranteed and carry an interest rate of 4.75% and the Board approved her idea.
“We have always had $500,000 sitting in our money market account at Farmer’s Bank from the entire time I was a Fiscal Officer,” Timmons noted. “I never touched it except for this past time when we transferred it over into the account that is making 3.75%. I would be comfortable with us moving at least $500,000 into a money market account.”
She added that the Board had sold the 2020 F-350 Ford Truck to Fairway Ford for $55,000 and that money would be earmarked for purchasing a new truck. Although the Township still had one truck that was operational, Burns said they needed to think about trading that truck in soon.
“We bought that truck because of what went on with COVID so our big truck is a 2008 model and it only has 25,000 miles on it and carries salt and does all of that other stuff but it is starting to have problems,” he said.
Timmons said that she was frequently receiving calls from someone who was interested in buying the cell tower. Burns told her to let the interested party know that they should have a representative attend the next meeting.
Gano said that he had been in contact with Heidi Matthews, a member of United States Representative Dave Joyce’s staff about gettting a grant that would allow Windham to purchase new tornado sirens. Burns asked him to also ask about a grant that would afford Windham the opportunity to buy a new ambulance.
Gano said that he had received an update from Windham Township Zoning Department Board member Gayle Poots about which code the BZA would start enforcing. Gano said that Poots told him that the BZA would adopt the 2019 code and delivered it to the recorder’s office. Copies have already been made and would be distributed at the next PCRPC meeting.
The Board will reconvene on July 3 at Windham’s Town Hall at 6 p.m.
