The regular meeting of the Rootstown Township Trustees opened at 5:30 p.m. on April 8, 2008. Those in attendance were Trustees Bonnie Howe and David Armentrout, JoAnn Townend, Fiscal Officer, Darrell Stephens, Jim Mahood, Van Black and Julie Gonzales.

Resolution No. 2008-066 – Motion was made by David Armentrout and seconded by Bonnie Howe to accept the minutes of March 25, 2008. Upon roll call the vote as follows: Diane Dillon, absent, David Armentrout, yea, Bonnie Howe, yea.

Shirley Riemenschneider was present to update the Board on the Portage County Bicentennial. On May 17th there will be a cemetery memorial that will honor numerous Portage County residents. Mrs. Riemenschneider gave a list of residents who are from Rootstown. There will be a memorial plaque of acceptance that will be May 17th at Homeland Cemetery presented to the Board. There will be a coloring contest this month and a parade and birthday celebration on June 9th, they are selling Cleveland Indians tickets for the game on July 25th for $17.00, in August there will be a black stocking ball game and in December a Time Capsule.

ROAD SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

The Lion’s Club will be having their clean-up day on April 19th. The road crew workers will be assisting.

Resolution No. 2008-067 – Motion was made by David Armentrout and seconded by Bonnie Howe to purchase fencing with slats, concrete and poles to go around the fuel tanks to be installed at the New Milford Road site in an amount not to exceed $6,891.00. The fence will be purchased from Dean’s Fence. Upon roll call the vote as follows: Diane Dillon, absent, David Armentrout, yea, Bonnie Howe, yea.

The County Engineer is preparing the bid books for Sabin, Seifer, Nina and Moser Drives and will be ready to be picked up on Friday.

The Board agreed for Nelson Tree Service to park their vehicles at the New Milford Road site for several months. They will give the Township chips for the park.

Darrell presented the Board a letter from the Rootstown Water Service Company regarding repairing several fire hydrants and a Court of Appeals case from Clermont County.

Resolution No. 2008-068 – Motion was made by David Armentrout and seconded by Bonnie Howe to authorize the Road Crew to repair the following fire hydrants upon the approval of our legal counsel.

• 3873 S.R. 44 South
• 3357 S.R. 44 South (last hydrant before Hartville Road)
• 4217 Hattrick Road
• 4339 Marks Avenue (lower Marks)

Upon roll call the vote as follows: Diane Dillon, absent, David Armentrout, yea, Bonnie Howe, yea.

Darrell will have a quote to chip and seal Lynn Road at the next Board meeting.

There is no news on the new truck. Dave spoke to Jeff Concord regarding rebuilding the truck. Dave asked Darrell to give the specifications to Mr. Concord. Darrell said he would contact him.

Darrell met with a representative from Southeast Equipment regarding the grater. It is going to cost approximately $10,000 in parts to repair, he suggested scrapping the grater. The Board agreed to wait until Diane was present to decide.

Bonnie said she ask Bryan Ford from the County Engineer’s Office to advise our road crew on how to repair the ditch on Herriff and Sandy Lake Roads. He suggested to first filling it up with cement chips then dig toward the resident’s property and fill dirt to hold chips in place.

Resolution No. 2008-069 – Motion was made by David Armentrout and seconded by Bonnie Howe to send a letter to the Horner family asking them to remove the lattice that is placed on the Ivan Horner plot at Homeland Cemetery. The Board agreed to give them thirty (30) days to remove it or the Road Crew will remove it. Upon roll call the vote as follows: Diane Dillon, absent, David Armentrout, yea, Bonnie Howe, yea.

Darrell received one (1) quote for the building at the cemetery.

Resolution No. 2008-070 – Motion was made by David Armentrout and seconded by Bonnie Howe agreed to contract with Jeff Parsons’ Companies at the same cost as last year for mowing of the cemetery at $400.00 and Gracie Fields at $225.00 per mow. Upon roll call the vote as follows: Diane Dillon, absent, David Armentrout, yea, Bonnie Howe, yea.

Brian Munger asked it these were supposed to be sealed bids. JoAnn said only if the amount is greater than $25,000.00.

Darrell had information regarding the signs at the park. The signs will be 2’X2’. Darrell will forward this information to Diane.

Darrell said in the past Bill Hahn opened and closed the park. The Board agreed for Darrell to ask if other employees in the Road Crew Department to see if they are interested.

Resolution No. 2008-071 – Motion was made by David Armentrout and seconded by Bonnie Howe to amend the Personnel Employee Handbook - Section III Compensation/Performance B. Overtime to increase the compensation time to be accrued to nine (9) months instead of six (6) months to use their time. Upon roll call the vote as follows: Diane Dillon, absent, David Armentrout, yea, Bonnie Howe, yea.

Darrell would like to auction several pieces of furniture from the Road Department. JoAnn suggested he call Edinburg Auction to get more information and she would also need a list of the furniture to be auctioned for inventory.

Dave suggested installing a 20 mph sign on Curtis Drive.

Ron Zoller who works for ODOT said they recently purchased an International truck and it caught on fire. He suggested unhooking the battery every evening for safety.

RESIDENTS COMMENTS

Marks Avenue Discussion

Several residents who live on Marks Avenue were present to express their concerns of a neighbor having parties and parking on both sides of the road.

Darrell said he installed “no parking” signs on both sides of the road.

Ernie Elridge of Marks Avenue has lived there for 48 years. These parties occur every Wednesday and Saturday and usually go on until 4:00 in the morning. Mr. Eldridge said a deputy happened to drive down the road and he ticketed a couple of cars and suggested he contact the Trustees so they could post signs.

Ray Reedy who lives on lower Marks said he works 2nd shift and was coming home one icy morning and had trouble getting through. May be we need to have permits.

Sylvia Elridge said it is necessary to have the road accessible for emergency vehicles and the snow plow.

Gary Slocum a resident for 25 years suggested a parking ban between certain hours. What ever the decision it needs to have some common sense.

Betty Woodlee owns a duplex on Marks Avenue and was present.

Judy Williams suggested a parking ban on only one side of the road.

Mr. Reedy said what if it happened to be his side of the road that they park on, who is going to fix the ruts in his yard? Dave said that issue would have to be taken to small claims court.

Mr. Slocum said the road is very narrow. Darrell said it is 20’. Most developments are 20’-22’.

Mr. Eldridge said since the no parking signs have been installed there hasn’t been a problem. The residents and Board agreed that the situation would be monitored.

ZONING INSPECTOR’S REPORT

There was three (3) act of business.

Jim will be attending a meeting on Thursday at 8:30 AM in the Administration Building hosted by Bob Wrentmore of the Portage County Building Department.

Jim said several members of the Commission are interested in attending the 2008 Planning and Zoning Commissioner Workshop on May 9th in Akron. Dave said he would also like to attend. JoAnn asked Jim to see if we need to pre-pay. Jim said he would check the web site.

Jim asked the policy on reserving the park for residents. Bonnie believed it was first come, first served. There is no deposit.

Danny Dillabough spoke to his neighbor regarding seeking grants for the Township. The Board asks that he attend a Board meeting to discuss this issue.

Outdoor Furnace Discussion

Several residents were present to get clarification regarding the Boards motion at the last hearing on outdoor furnaces.

Ron Zoller of Sanford Road felt the Boards decision on the stack height for outdoor furnaces is ridiculous. Dave said that rule was decided by the State EPA. The Board would be in favor of grandfathering the outdoor furnaces but we would have to follow State standards. Mr. Zoller said there are approximately ten (10) woodburners in Rootstown and he has never heard of any complaints yet.

Scott Keiger also has an outdoor furnace and asked when the new rules go into effect. The Board said residents have thirty (30) days to come into compliance. He believes the Board acted too soon to adopt this rule. They needed to wait until the State standards have been set.

Brian Munger of Biltz Road was also present he agrees the stack height is too much. Mr. Munger gave the Board a letter from State Representative Kathleen Chandler.

Mr. Zoller suggested rescinding the resolution. The Board agreed for Jim to contact Chris Meduri.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Bonnie gave information to the Board regarding the Health Department.

Resolution No. 2008-072 – Motion was made by David Armentrout and seconded by Bonnie Howe to oppose the Health Departments chargeback fees but support the upcoming levy. Upon roll call the vote as follows: Diane Dillon, absent, David Armentrout, yea, Bonnie Howe, yea.

JoAnn said she received an e-mail from Trustee Diane Dillon stating she is opposed to the Health Departments chargeback fees.

FISCAL OFFICER

Resolution No. 2008-073 - Motion was made by David Armentrout and seconded by Bonnie Howe to enter into an agreement with Portage County Soil & Water Conservation for the Storm Water Management in an amount not to exceed $2,163.60. Upon roll call the vote as follows: Diane Dillon, absent, David Armentrout, yea, Bonnie Howe, yea.

Resolution No. 2008-074 – Motion was made by David Armentrout and seconded by Bonnie Howe to move forward with the installation of a street light at Kelly Avenue and New Milford Road in an amount not to exceed $816.00 for installation and $10.61 monthly fee; and to install a street light at Jennifer Avenue and New Milford Road in an amount not to exceed $1,520.00 for installation and $10.61 monthly fee. Upon roll call the vote as follows: Diane Dillon, absent, David Armentrout, yea, Bonnie Howe, yea.

The Board received an invitation for the welcome reception for the Portage County Economic Development director Bill Ulik on April 17th from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM at the Kent State University Student Center Room 306 A.

JoAnn informed the Trustees that she received a letter from Frank Gates regarding the Workers’ Compensation for last year. Since the claims were higher last year there will most likely be an increase.

Resolution No. 2008-075 – Motion was made by Bonnie Howe and seconded by David Armentrout to pay bills on file with the Fiscal Officer. Upon roll call all yeas and no nays.

Resolution No. 2008-076 – Motion was made by David Armentrout and seconded by Bonnie Howe to move forward with the bidding process for sewer hook up for two (2) Township buildings. Upon roll call the vote as follows: Diane Dillon, absent, David Armentrout, yea, Bonnie Howe, yea.

Dave will contact Jim Greener to see if he is interested in preparing bids for this project.

May 31st is the Township Clean-Up day at the New Milford Road site from 8:00 AM – Noon. There is a maximum of six (6) tires.

Resolution No. 2008-077 - Motion was made by David Armentrout to adjourn at 7:55 PM.

Respectfully Submitted:

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Bonnie Howe
Vice Chairperson

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JoAnn Townend
Fiscal Officer