Windham Twp. – Windham Township Trustees met recently, with all trustees and fiscal officer in attendance. The trustees approved the minutes and the expenditures for the month of July before moving on to the business at hand.
The township employees have been quite busy this month. They have been out mowing, ditching and helping folks with water issues. They also did a little road patching and culvert cleaning. Brian Miller, road supervisor will get an estimate on the road project in the township green area. Part of that road is in the village and the village would like a cost of their portion prior to the work being started. The village and township are working to have both the village portion and township portion of the roads in the green area and the village park chipped and sealed. It was requested that they not plan the project on August 10, 2019 as they have a car show planned for that day. The township is looking for asphalt grinds from road resurfacing projects in the area. They township wants the grinds to use as a base for roads in the new cemetery.
In zoning, Inspector Joe Pinti stated that there were two permits written for the month of July. One was for a new home and the other was for an accessory building. Pinti said. Currently there appears to be no legislation on untagged/junk recreational vehicles or water craft, however, the prosecutor is still researching it. There is a House Bill (HB-74) in Ohio that is in the process of instituting legislation on untagged/junk water craft. The township has quite a few untagged/junk RV’s and watercraft that are being stored on residential property they’d like to see removed.
Discussion was held on wedding barn venues. The township is looking at adding some protections for folks attending those events in those venues. It was discussed that the buildings could be inspected yearly by building, health and fire departments. Nothing is finalized on that yet.
Pinti informed the trustees that the house that burned on Windham-Parkman Road was a total loss. The insurance company will be bringing in a mobile home for the family to live in while their home is being rebuilt. The zoning allows this provision for up to two years. That being said, as soon as they have moved into the house, they have 30 days to remove the trailer.
Rich Gano said there have been complaints about the cemetery weed trimming. After looking at it, Gano agreed they needed to do a better job at the cemetery. That brought up the issue of many grave sites being in violation of the rules, which makes weed whipping a challenge and a time-consuming job. There are only two township employees and it takes 4 hours to weed whip the cemetery. A notice will be published in the newspaper and then the township workers will remove the items that are in violation of the cemetery codes. Gano said, he has another quote coming in for the drainage issues in the cemetery, then they will proceed with the project. In the new cemetery, they discussed keeping the back cut so trees don’t start to grow. The decided they would use the brush hog there yearly to control that.
In fire board news, the district has been having battery issues with the trucks. They have had to replace several batteries. A gasket on the jeep has a leak so it was sent in for repairs. Pump maintenance is overdue and will be taken care of soon. Gano also reported that the personnel issue is up and down and he is looking for ways to solve it. This seems to be a problem everywhere. He says he can hardly discipline anyone. When he does try to discipline people, they leave and go work elsewhere.
In old business, Danny Burns updated the trustees on the generator. Due to the installer and Burns being on vacation in July at separate times they were not able to move forward on the installation. Now that both are back, they will get the project going.
Miller will get the grit for the roads for winter as it is getting low. He will also check on the salt. The township is in the salt consortium and has to take all that they ordered last the spring for the up-coming winter season.
Lastly, The Township Trustees want to congratulate Kathryn Brobst on reaching a milestone that most never achieve. Mrs. Brobst turns 100 years old on August 12, 2019. Happy Birthday Mrs. Brobst!
