At the first Windham Township Board of Trustees meeting of the New Year last Friday evening at the Windham Township Hall, the trustees covered a wide range of topics concerning the new fiscal year, including approving a motion to purchase a columbarium at the cemetery, a wall containing recessed compartments to hold ashes of the deceased.
“Everybody is getting cremated now, so it is cheaper for the public to pay us $900 instead of putting in a pad and buying a stone which costs $3,000,” said Chairman, Fire Contact and Trustee Dan Burns.
Vice Chairman and Cemetery Contact Rich Gano proposed that the Board purchase a columbarium from Portage Marble & Granite and have it placed in a spot that could not be used for burial purposes because the ground is too damp.
“We have a spot that we are never really going to be able to use because of how wet it is, and this can go there so we can put a pad down instead of wasting that land,” Burns said.
Upon reviewing their options, the Board selected a 96-compartment, double-sided columbarium that stands 78¼ inches tall, 111 inches long and 32½ inches across, which would cost $35,306.00.
“We have seen the cemetery change so much since COVID,” noted Road Contact and Trustee Brian Miller. “It really has changed a lot. There are very few burials and usually there are older people who are more traditional in that type of a burial.”
Fiscal Officer Casey Timmons said that the board had two options on how to pay for the columbarium, either withdraw the money from the general fund or use the cemetery fund. Burns made a motion for the board to move ahead with the purchase and Gano seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.
The Board approved the organizational alignment for the 2026 fiscal year, which included all board members retaining their positions, with Burns staying on as Chairman and Fire Contact, Gano once again holding the position of Vice Chairman and Cemetery Contact, Miller reassuming his role as the Road Contact, Gano continuing as the Portage County Regional Planning Committee Representative, Timmons and Burns keeping their responsibilities as the two members of the Record Retention Committee, and Timmons and Cemetery Sexton Jayme Neikirk continuing to fulfill their duties on the 2026 Audit Committee.
The Board also agreed to keep the monthly meetings at the same time and place and to have the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office continue as their legal counsel.
Timmons updated the board about their budget for the 2026 fiscal year, as they were opening with a budget of $713,127.00, which was higher than usual due to an extra $350,000 the township was receiving from the recent sale a factory. Burns said that the plan was to invest the extra money rather than just leave it untouched.
Miller updated the board with road news, saying that the township workers had cleared a large amount of snow off the roads in the wake of two snowstorms over the holidays. He noted that the township was clearing more snow than it had seen all last winter.
Burns notified the board that he was beginning to see an alarming number of trees overgrown onto the local roads. Miller said that the township needed to have those trees trimmed but Burns informed him that they did not have the proper machinery to do so.
Miller said that the Asplundh Tree Expert LLC, a tree service company, had usually performed the roadside trimming. Burns said that the Township needed to reach out to an independent contractor to do some trimming.
“What is happening is that they are not even all trees,” he added. “Some of them are just bushes and weeds that are growing out into the road instead of up and they are coming out, closer to the road. They are not in the road yet, but it is going to be happening, maybe not this year or maybe this year.”
Miller suggested that the township purchase a new roadside cutter but Burns responded that the cost may be too high, as the starting price point could be as much as $60,000.
Zoning Inspector Jake Sweet informed the board that there were currently no projects that had been submitted to him, given the less-than-ideal weather conditions, but acknowledged that there was work being done on a house on Bryant Road. It appeared the owner was attempting to make his basement bigger, and he would keep an eye out for that.
He then told the board that the ongoing debate about solar panels was something that needed to be addressed, as a pair of properties on State Route 303 planned to install the panels.
Burns said that both properties had signed contracts with an unknown company that made their properties eligible to have solar panels.
“They are signing a lease; that does not mean that they are coming here, or it is going to happen, but those two properties have signed a lease with somebody who has installed those solar panels,” Burns said.
Board of Zoning Appeals Vice Chairwoman Tricia Kendricks said that before the solar panels were installed, the owners needed to approach the BZA for approval.
Gano informed her that if the power voltage from the solar panels exceeded 15 megawatts, then Portage County would have to get involved. Sweet added that the solar panel issue would fall on his plate first before it moved to the BZA.
The board agreed that it would want to establish some regulations on solar panels, such as ensuring the panels were installed in the back of the property. Burns added that if the property owners put the solar panels on their roof, it would be out of their jurisdiction.
Sweet said that he would do more research and return with a more informed recommendation for the board at the next meeting.
He also updated the Board that the fencing matter on Stanley Road had been resolved, as the owner had requested to build a fence that stood at 10 feet but adjusted his proposal, asking to build it 8 feet and the BZA approved the variance.
The board addressed the expiring terms of the Windham Township Zoning Commission members Craig Alderman and Ryan McClean. It decided to stagger their extensions, as Alderman’s term would be extended for an additional two years, and McClean would stay on for three additional years.
Burns said that the Windham Fire Department expected to receive its new ambulance from the Ravenna Fire Department sometime during the week of Jan. 5. Miller inquired about who was currently serving on the Fire Board. Burns informed him that the Fire Board members were him, Windham Village Council President David Belknap and Cindy Cale.
He said that he had been told that the WFD responded to 674 calls in 2025 and had recently applied for three separate grants: the State Fire Marshall Grant, the State Agricultural Grant and the Wildlife Fire Gear Grant. Burns added that the WFD had also hired two new EMTs, which reflected a positive trajectory as far staffing was concerned.
Gano reported two streetlights were out, one on the corner of Wisteria and Geneva Drive and another on the corner of Crestview and Windham-Parkman Road. These would soon be replaced with LED lighting.
The Board then voted to increase the wages of the Township Workers by $100, increase Sweet’s monthly salary for his work as the Zoning Inspector to $600 and also decided to give Neikirk a raise as cemetery sexton, increasing her salary to $400.
The Board will reconvene on Feb. 2 at the Windham Township Hall at 6 p.m.
