The Windham Township Board of Trustees committed to a significant road project last Thursday evening at the Windham Township Hall, approving a motion to contract Hard Labor Paving, a paving contractor company from Geauga County to patch Hewins Road.
The Board received a quote from Hard Labor that they deemed acceptable, and Vice Chairman, Trustee and Cemetery Contact Rich Gano made a motion for the Township to retain Hard Labor to patch Hewins Road and the motion carried unanimously. Trustee and Road Contact Brian Miller presented a motion to the Board for the Township to do a joint bid for the project on Hewins Road with Freedom Township, and the Board unanimously carried his motion.
Miller informed the Board that all sides of the Township’s roads have been mowed.
He added that the full-time road workers and summer workers had been weeding and mowing the cemetery. Miller also said that road workers have been assembling all the new street signs together so they can be permanently installed.
Miller told the Board that although all the new footers in the cemetery had been poured and the Township had ordered an excess of cement so the Township could use the surplus to perform some patch work on Bryant and Wadsworth Roads.
Miller said that he had been in contact with Bryan McManus of McManus Concrete to have the work done on Wadsworth Road to address the erosion problem.
The Board had more discussions about the columbarium that they planned to have built in the cemetery, with the discussions being centered around the shape of columbarium.
Township Zoning Inspector Jake Sweet was not in attendance but sent a digital report to Chairman, Trustee and Fire Contact Dan Burns, informing the Board that he approved a new home and deck permit.
The Board had more discussions about the ongoing issue of the possibility of Artificial Intelligence Data Centers being built in Portage County, saying that it had not received any further guidance from the Portage County Regional Planning Committee.
The Board said that it had not received any interest from residents about possibly joining the Board of Zoning Appeals or the Windham Township Zoning Commission as alternates.
The Board held more discussions about possibly using convex boxes as permitted items for storage throughout the Township. Gano informed the Board that he would do more research on the issue.
Burns told the Board that the Fire Department had received 315 calls to date for the 2026 year.
He added that the Fire Department wished to express its gratitude to the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary for attending the Open House and presenting their lockbox program to the residents of the Village and the Township. Although the weather wasn’t ideal, the event was well attended.
Burns said that the Fire Department has been covering most of its calls and that two members would be attending EMT school soon.
The Board informed the audience that the annual Village/Township Fall Clean-Up would take place on October 2nd and 3rd. In the past, the annual Clean-Up weekend allowed residents to deposit spare or used tires in a dumpster, but the Board was uncertain if that would be the case this year but would investigate the matter.
The Board set a time and date for the Budget Meeting, as it will take place on July 2 at 5:50 p.m., right before the next Board meeting.
The Board approved a motion from Burns to accept the 2026 Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council Grant fund of $3,202.
The Board will reconvene for its next meeting on July 2 at Windham Township Hall at 6 p.m.
