Nelson Twp. – Nelson Township Trustees met for their regularly-scheduled meeting at the community house with trustees Joe Leonard, Bill Wilson and Jim Turos and fiscal officer J. David Finney present. Fire Chief Dave Friess was in attendance to request permission to use the parking lot at Pixley Park for a vehicle extrication and burning practice. After some discussion the trustees said they would have to co-ordinate time and dates with the ball fields schedule, but as long as that is done then they saw no problem with the fire department using the parking lot. The chief said he would coordinate the dates and times once they receive the permit to burn.
Questions were raised about scheduling the use of the ball field at Pixley Park. After some discussion the trustees agreed to have Michelle Cmunt, who already does the scheduling for the Community House, do the ball fields as well and be compensated $25 extra a month from May thru October. Mrs. Cmunt will be responsible for keeping an updated schedule posted at the park as well.
Trustee Wilson presented estimates for the cemetery road paving. After further discussion they have decided to put the paving on hold for now due to budget constraints.
Mr. Turos brought up the water problem on the ball field at Pixley Park and demonstrated what is wrong with it and what should be done to fix it. Turos claim that the drain tile is too deep and they used the wrong type of tile. He stated that it would cost some where near $8,000 to repair. Mr. Terry Allen, a member of the Pixley Park Committee, disagrees with Mr. Turos’ findings, Allen said they followed the specs given to them by the Department of Water and Soil and claims the drainage problem is the sand. Allen claims the sand sold to them had too much clay in it, preventing the water from draining properly. Allen said he was told that if they added more sand to the mix the field would be fine. Turos and Allen disagreed on how to solve the problem and since neither party has the funds to redo the drainage system the park committee said they would try the sand additive first.
In other business Turos wants to make it clear that the trustees have to approve any improvements done at Pixley Park including design, specs etc. The park committee agreed with him and stated that they had turned in plans for the ball field which the trustees had approved prior to the installation of the field.
Joe Leonard stated that they started examining the items that have been stored upstairs of the Community House and believe much of it could be donated to the Pixley Park Annual Garage Sale held Memorial Day weekend. He said before they start giving the items to the committee they need to go through them to make sure they are not giving away part of Nelson’s history.
A discussion was held on the legality of having an all-boards meeting with the trustees. The all-boards meeting would be the zoning commission and the board of zoning appeals and the trustees. Leonard will check with the prosecutor to see if it is permissible.
Leonard contacted Captain Ricky Neal from the sheriff’s office about using the prisoners to help clean-up the sides of the roads in the township. The township would be expected to provide drinks and lunch for the crew. The trustees agreed to the stipulation of providing lunch and beverages for the prisoners who do the work.
The food bank plan is moving forward. The township needs to find a sponsor who holds a 501C3 non-profit status before they can develop a business plan for the food bank. When the business plan is developed they will present it to the trustees.
Chairman Leonard said Cook Heating and Cooling had presented the revised drawings for the heating and cooling system for the Community House. The changes in the updated drawings are going from a two-unit heating and cooling system to one furnace and air conditioner rather than the (2) two unit systems. The local contractor says this would be sufficient for the townships needs. The new system is being paid for out of the NOPEC Grant the township received.
In other business, questions were brought to the board on how the clerk was to determine pay times for employees now that they have a time clock, does the township need an email address and who would be responsible for answering questions on the web site. After some discussion the board agreed to determine pay by the quarter hour rather than the tenth of an hour. The trustees will have Mr. Elias look into an email address for the township and responses to questions will be handled by Mr. Finney. Mr. Finney will confer with trustees before answering questions folks present when the email system is up and running.
The trustees meet on the first and third Wednesdays at 7:30 pm with meetings currently being held at the Community House until June.
More Nelson news, including minutes of their meetings, and government information can be found on their website www.nelsontownshipohio.org
