Hiram Twp. – At a recent meeting, it was determined that Fiscal Officer Diane Rodhe would submit proof of purchase for safety uniforms, road safety signs, fire safety equipment, and registration fees for the OTA conference to the MORE Grant, which was due by the end of 2020. In other news, a copy of the State Employee Rights for COVID related time-off was provided to the Trustees and Road Supervisor Tom Matota. Continuing her report, Ms. Rodhe noted that a public records request was received from the Applachian Unconventional Survey, and that Dominion sent a statement regarding a future rate increase, and the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation sent a dividend check.
In his Fire Report, Chief Byers thanked the Trustees for the Halloween donation as well as the purchase of equipment from Stryker Medical with the CARES Fund Grant money. He also reported that all fleet maintenance is complete. The Fire Department proposed the purchase of Motorola MARKS radios for $4,1127 with the additional CARES Fund distribution, which Trustees approved in Resolution 2020-56. In similar news, the Trustees and Chief Byers agreed that the Fire Department will conduct training for the Road Crew on the use of the automated external defibrillator (AED).
The Portage County Auditor’s office sent an Amended Certificate of Estimated Resources after Diane submitted the CARES Grant amount of $145,714.52 as received into Fund 2272. In other news, Trustee Jack Groselle reported a cost of $20,000 to hook up natural gas at 6352 State Route 82 so Integra is pricing electric or propane for heat. Integra will try to complete site work before winter weather sets in.
In September, the Township received $59,228.52 in two CARES Act distributions, and in October, the Township received an additional payment of $86,485.79. The funds have been used to purchase items including Marks Radios and accessories, touchless and germicidal fixtures for the new building, a handheld UV surface sanitizer, and additional fire safety gear.
In his Zoning Report, Inspector Rich Gano shared that the Township had received 41 permit applications in 2020. Lastly, in his Road Report, Matota informed Trustees that a new salt spreader has been ordered. He also shared his recommendation that the road in Rolling Meadows be ground down and re-laid because heavy garbage trucks are breaking down the outside edge. He noted that the road was chip and sealed one time since being installed and it has been dug up in multiple places to insert patches to try and improve the road surface. He noted that the cement driveways will create a need to grind the road surface down to meet the cement instead of adding layers of asphalt on top of the existing surface. Matota suggested having Ronyak or the Portage County Engineer review the road condition in order to ascertain how much cost would be involved in this project.
The next regularly-scheduled Trustee meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 19th at 7 pm in the Township Hall.
