Windham Twp. – The Windham Township Trustees met for their regularly scheduled meeting with all pertinent folks in attendance. The meeting was called to order. The trustees approved the minutes and expenditures for the month of October.
There were no guests willing to speak, so they moved on to roads. Brian Miller, road supervisor reported that they did ditch work on Horn, Bryant and Colton Roads. They also reset a culvert that had shifted. Miller reported that the work on Hewins Road is completed and looks great. Miller talked with Mike Collins from the Portage County Engineer’s Office on a state grant for re-surfacing Bryant Road. Collins will get a packet together and will notify Miller when it’s ready. There are a lot of townships vying for the same funds, so they are hopeful they are awarded some funding for the project. The board voted to apply and accept the grant if received.
Miller reported that the bridge on Silica Sand is still not open. They expect it to be open soon.
He also reported that there were two culverts on state routes in the township that the state needs to replace but as of yet hasn’t done it. He has called the state and questioned why they paved State Route 82 in Garrettsville, skipped over Windham and went on to Braceville. All they would tell him was the Windham section would be done next year. Miller reported that they got their high water signs out as early as they could. Rich Gano thinks they might need to get the ones with flashing lights on them. There was a flooding issue on Liberty Street, residents have pictures of it. Miller said, the crew went out and checked it out and thinks they might need to get a camera to check culverts at Charvats’. They believe these are clogged. Gano looked into having it power-jetted by the county with a cost of less than $500. He was unsure if they had done it yet.
In cemetery news, Gano reported there were two cremation burials set for Saturday, November 13, 2021. The footers are done. There was a breakdown in communication on the cemetery and the footers. After some discussion, the board agreed that they need to communicate better with each other, keeping in mind that some of them do work full time jobs and are not always available.
This led to a discussion on the cemetery and a section of it that doesn’t drain well. The board will also look at what other townships are doing in their cemeteries with selling plots when most are cremation burials and not full burials. Looking at squaring off plots for cremations selling them for less. They also discussed getting a layout of the new cemetery done and get the roads in, mausoleums, interment monuments, flat monuments, rules and regulations on the cemetery. They made no decisions, but decided to hold at workshop Dec.2, 2021 at 5:30pm, prior to the regular township meeting before deciding on anything.
Joe Pinti reported that there were no permits written in the month of August. He said there was one land split on State Route 303. The two properties that were in the landbank were released for sale. Both are under contract. Pinti said the one on State Route 82 will need to install a new septic and a well. The old system was collapsed. Pinti checked on the garbage bags piled up at 9797 Windham Parkman Road. The person answering the door said it was construction debris from a bathroom remodel, was to be removed. Pinti then checked with the zoning commission chairperson to see where they were with the substandard lots. A member of the board was there and had no idea what they were referring to.
The board passed a resolution amending substandard lot requirements. They are going to reduce side lots to eight feet and rear lot to 25 feet. They will send the resolution to the zoning commission for language for the zoning change. Lastly, in zoning, Kevin Ditmar and Tami Hickman resigned from the zoning commission, citing work schedules. The fiscal officer will place an advertisement for the two open zoning commission position.
Gano reported that the number of calls were up this year. He said, the turkey raffle will be held on November 22,2021 at the fire station. They will also hold a pancake breakfast to help with the finances. Money is still tight and they are hopeful that they and the village can reach some sort of agreement on resolving the funding inequality.
The board passed a resolution to attend the winter meetings. They also passed a resolution to allow the fiscal officer to use her personal phone rather than her have to carry her personal phone, her work phone and the township phone. They gave her a$35/ month allowance toward the use of her personal phone. They also raised the workers who use their own phones to $35/ month as well.
The board then voted to donate $500 to each church in Windham and the school for food to give to those in need.
The trustees went into executive session to discuss personnel issues, After the discussion, they entered back into regular session and voted to discontinue using Robyn Gano as the sexton in 2022. They will advertise for a replacement. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Reporters Note: It was learned that after the meeting Robyn Gano submitted her resignation to the trustees.
