Members of the Windham Township Zoning Commission Board attended the Windham Board of Trustees meeting last Thursday night at the Windham Town Hall to clear the air about some remarks that were made at the Board of Trustees Meeting on Oct. 3.
Zoning Commission members Craig Alderman, Sarah Blake, Ryan McClean, Gayle Poots and Denise Cain addressed comments that had been made at the October 3rd Trustees meeting by Board of Zoning Appeals Chairman Todd Phillips, who referred to the Zoning Commission as a “bully pulpit” and “brow beaters” when discussing Zoning Inspector Jake Sweet attending the Commission meetings.
According to Alderman, the Zoning Commission was concerned that the trustees did not defend the Commission after Phillips made his remarks.
“We don’t feel the trustees should have been silent regarding those statements, so I am here to be on the record and ask the trustees if they agree with the statements that Mr. Phillips made regarding the Zoning Commission and the character of the Zoning commissioners,” he said.
Vice Chairman and Cemetery Contact Rich Gano said he did not personally support the statements made by Phillips. Board Chairman and Fire contact Dan Burns said although he may not have agreed with Phillips’ description of the Zoning Commission, he still felt that Phillips had the right to express his opinions.
This led to all parties discussing a more serious issue, which was the alignment of the Trustees, the Board of Zoning Appeals and the Zoning Commission.
Gano proposed that all three boards needed to have an annual all-boards’ meeting before the end of the calendar year. He added that it was important that the boards have a better sense of unity.
“Then we know what you are doing, and you know what we are thinking,” Burns said. “Especially during COVID, with the county not doing stuff it was supposed to do and maybe we are not doing stuff the way we are supposed to do either. I am not saying we are right either. At least it would make us be more together or at least what the other one is doing or thinking.”
Phillips was given the chance to address the comments he made.
The comment that was made was, “I don’t believe that the Board of Zoning Commission as a Board should question the Zoning Inspector,” he noted. “They have an absolute right to question him individually but not as a board or not as a commission and that’s why the comment was made that way because I believe there may have been, for lack of a better term, some browbeating there.”
Cain responded by saying that the Zoning Commission’s only intention was to have Sweet attend their meetings for better collaboration and communication.
The trustees then read a letter from Becky Phillips, a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals, expressing her belief that the responsibilities of all three zoning-related entities had become convoluted over the years and that the hierarchy appears to have become blurred. Her letter essentially requested the same thing that Gano had proposed.
“It sounds like a great idea and we are all in the same boat,” said Trustee and Road Contact Brian Miller. “We are all doing whatever is best for Windham at the end of the day and I know you are all good people and all of you and us want the best for Windham at the end of the day.”
It was decided that the meeting will be held on Dec. 19 at the Windham Town Hall at 7 p.m.
In other zoning news, Burns read a report from Sweet stating that he had issued two zoning permits for pre-fabricated sheds.
Gano said that he had spoken with Dan Morganti, Executive Director of the Portage County Land Bank, and the paperwork to demolish property 9092 located on State Route 303 has been processed. He added that he and Burns would meet with Morganti personally on Nov. 14 at the property for one final walkthrough.
Windham Exempted Village Schools EMS Coordinator Crystal Hickman made an appearance as a guest to remind everyone of the half marathon 5k race fundraiser taking place on Nov. 10. The proceeds raised from the event will be divided between the Student Food Pantry and the Veterans Haven of Youngstown.
“We packed pantry bags for any and every student in Windham schools who would like one and they take it home on Fridays,” Hickman said. “It is two breakfasts, two lunches and some snacks on the weekend because we know our children get a breakfast and a lunch every day because we provide that at school, but we don’t know about the weekends.
The trustees made a donation of $500 in support of the cause.
Phillips proposed that before the all-boards meeting occurred, the trustees extend the expiring terms of any members before the end of the calendar year. It was revealed that Cain’s term as a member of the Zoning Commission was scheduled to expire this year as well as that of Board of Zoning Appeals’ member Lynnea St. John’s. The Trustees renewed St. John’s term for an additional four years while Cain requested that they give her some time to think about whether she wanted to stay on the commission for another term.
Miller said that the township had performed some additional ditching on the roads and was waiting for the leaves to disperse before working on some of the curvature. He added that the township was also waiting on the new road signs, which were on back order.
Gano said that he had spoken with First Energy Regional External Affairs Manager Troy Rhoades about installing a new electrical pole. He informed the trustees that he needed to install the meter to metal before applying it to the pole. He also noted that all of the one-foot cemetery graves had been filled.
Burns said that the Fire Department had responded to 750 calls so far this year and most of the calls had been covered by Windham’s Fire Department. He added that the Fire Department was in the process of applying for an assistant to Firefighting Grant to purchase new equipment including new air packs.
Gano proposed that the Board of Zoning Appeals and the Zoning Commission select one or two members to join the Trustees and attend the Ohio Township Association Conference in Columbus taking place from Jan. 29-31. He said that all expenses would be paid by the Board of the Trustees.
Fiscal Officer Casey Timmons said that the Trustees needed the responses from each Board quickly as rooms had just become available on Nov. 6.
“We lack on some things that we don’t know on both Boards. I have learned by being in this for so long that we know there is that timetable and flow chart. There is a lot of learning from everything.”
Phillips agreed to represent the Board of Zoning Appeals while the Zoning Commission selected Poots and McClean to attend the conference.
The trustees then decided that they would hold a follow-up Windham tornado meeting at the next Board of Trustees meeting, which would be hosted by Portage County Emergency Management Director Ryan Shackelford to discuss the aftermath of the Windham tornado.
Timmons brought up the issue of the American Rescue Plan Act funds needing to be encumbered by Dec. 31. What she meant was that the trustees needed to earmark the appropriate amount of funds to cover necessary expenses such as maintenance, building infrastructures, roads, cyber security and hardware software protection of critical infrastructure, health services, environmental remediation, school or educational services.
Burns had previously suggested purchasing electric garage door openers for the North garage door behind Town Hall but it was then discussed that the trustees should consider purchasing a pair of new garage doors. It was decided that the trustees would wait for the all-boards meeting before deciding on how to allocate the funds.
Timmons concluded the meeting by saying she had met with a representative of the Ohio Township Risk Management Authority and that the Trustees would be receiving an updated employee handbook. She added that OTARMA was requesting the trustees to submit driving records of all the board members for insurance purposes.
“It was updating the employee handbook and we do not have a sexual harassment policy in our employee handbook, and we need to have one,” she said.
