Welcome to Suffield Township

On Tuesday January 11th the Suffield Township Board of Trustees met before an invigorated crowd of seven citizens.  Temperatures hovered in the low 20's, but some of the topics discussed brought a measure of warmth.  Trustee Tom Calcei mentioned that the Chili Cook Off is scheduled for Saturday February 5th at the Suffield Lion's Park lodge.  Entries (no cost to enter the contest) can be delivered at about 5:30 PM, with the doors for hungry chili samplers opening aat 6:00 PM.  Cost to sample the chili is $5.00 per person.  The Chili Cook Off is jointly sponsored by the Suffield League and the Suffield Lion's Club.  Questions?  Call Tom Calcei (330-256-8042) or Terry Ginn (330-472-6483).  Keeping the the theme of warmer days, Trustee Chairman Jeff Eldreth talked about some plans and ideas for the Second Annual Car Show, which appears to be happening the Sunday before Father's Day, June 12th. Along the lines of heat, the Fire Department responded to 94 calls for service in December 2021.  For  the year of 2021, they responded to 898 calls, which Chief Bob Rasnick said was a record number.

Jeff Eldreth questioned if the township was over-insuring the townships property.  It was decided to pay this year's premium and sometime later in the year review the cost and benefits ti see if savings were possible and worthwhile.  State Representative Gail Pavliga came to the meeting and gave a stump speech on her accomplishments during the first year of her two-year term.  Tom Calcei said that the Laugh At The Lake event is on again this year.  Instead of having it at the Paradise Lake Golf Course, the event will be held at the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, 755 South Cleveland Avenue.  Tentative date is March 5th.

The trustees next meet on Tuesday January 25th at 7:00 AM.  The Zoning Commission meets on Wednesday January 12th at 7:00 PM.  No Board of Zoning Appeals hearings have been set.

The Suffield Township Board of Trustees met bright and early on Tuesday December 28th before a crowd of five residents to conclude their 2021 business and make plans for 2022 in a "Re-Organizational Meeting"  During the regular business meeting, Chairman Jeff Eldreth noted that the recycle dates will continue as in the past.  They will be Monday and Tuesdays beginning on January 10th and 11th.  He also noted that the Leaf Dump has been closed for the year 2021.  Despite the absence of the entrance chain, do not use the leaf dump until announced next fall.

Resident Howard Coomer came to the meeting to publicly thank the Fire Department for their assistance in getting his wife to the hospital in a timely manner.  He felt that the Fire Department's efforts saved her life.  Fiscal Officer Lori Calcei said we still have some NOPEC grant money to spend.  A newcomer to the meeting was Eve Baird.  Welcome Eve! 

Trustee Tom Calcei said that Suffield League and Suffield Lions Club Chili Cook off is to be held on Saturday February 5th at Lion's Park, which is behind the Suffield Elementary School.  There is no fee to enter the competition.  Doors will open at 5:30 PM for those who wish to enter the competition and at 6:00 PM for those wanting to sample the chili. 

The trustees next meet on Tuesday January 11th at 7:00 PM.  The Zoning Commission will meet at 7:00 PM on Wednesday January 12th.  There are no Board of Zoning Appeals in the works at this time.  Both meetings will be held, as usual, in the Suffield Community Room at 1256 Waterloo Road.

The Re-Organizational Meeting immediately followed the regular business meeting.  There were few changes from the 2021 trustee format.  Jeff Eldreth remains Chairman, Jared Philip remains Vice Chairman.  Chief Robert Rasnick continues on as Fire Chief.  Wendy Rasnick will be part time Fire Department secretary, Jeff Childers will be webmaster, Adam Bey will remain Zoning Inspector and part time Zoning Commission secretary.  Lori Calcei will be part time Board of Zoning Appeals secretary.  Emily Lashley was re-appointed as Township Secretary and Assistant Fiscal Officer.  Janelle Albertoni was re-appointed to the Zoning Commission for another five years.  Bill Evans and Eric Voiers were reappointed as alternates to the Zoning Commission.  Brian Cheshire was appointed to a five year term on the Board of Zoning Appeals and Bryon Wine was reappointed as alternate to that board.  Shannon Eldreth was reappointed as Town Hall Administrator.  Fees for use of the Town Hall remain unchanged.  Zoning fees also remain unchanged, except that the Temporary Vendor Permit was added at a rate of $25.00 per application.  

David Einloth and Mike Osborne were re-hired as full time employees at the Road Department and Mike Smith will remain Road Department part time worker.  The trustees approved a Temporary Appropriation Resolution of $2,283,419 for the first quarter of 2022, an increase of about $16,000. 

The Suffield Township Board of Trustees met on Tuesday December 14th before a crowd of about eight people and discussed a number of issues.  They agreed to apply for a grant of $1,500 from NOPEC to fund a community event in 2022.  The application must be done by February 15th.  They also set the final trustee meeting of the year for Tuesday December 28th at 7:00 AM.  Immediately following this meeting, the re-organizational meeting for 2022 will be conducted.

The trustees mourned the loss of two Portage County township officials.  They were Hiram Township Fiscal Officer Diane Rhode and Randolph Township trustee Roger Klodt.  A lengthy discussion was again had on the Christmas Lighting Contest.  The trustees weren't happy with the inter-active map that Regional Planning had posted to the web.  Only three houses from Suffield were included on the map, despite the fact that Shannon Eldreth had supplied Regional Planning with a much larger number of houses.  If you thought that the lights in front of the old historic Town Hall and the Fire House were impressive, hold onto your seat, as more lights are expected to be delivered tomorrow.  Trustee Tom Calcei reported that the Christmas With Santa was a huge success with about 78 children showing up to see Santa and receive a gift from him.  Some photos will be posted soon.

The Fire Department report was given by Tom Calcei due to other commitments by Chief Bob Rasnick.  The firefighters handled 82 calls for service and had five continuing training session classes during the month of November.  Trustee Jared Phillip said that the Double D Plaza has been sold to a company called ParMar.  This company specializes in gas stations and convenience stores.  They plan to do some renovation in the very near future.  Welcome to Suffield ParMar.

Lots of small zoning issues were discussed by the zoning inspector.  A problem property on Kapity Drive at Bolender Road has drawn the attention of many neighbors, who then brought their complaints to the trustees.  The plan at the point is to sent the property owner a letter requiring they clean up the property within thirty days, or face the possibility of a $100 per day non-compliance penalty. 

Lori Calcei, with the able assistance of Portage County Probate Judge Patricia Smith and her Magistrate Heather Gyenkenyesi, presented a "Good Deeds" program prior to the trustee meeting.  A crowd of twelve people attended this presentation on how to avoid probate court action and reduce attorney fees in the process. 

The trustees next meet to Tuesday December 28th at 7:00 AM.  The Zoning Commission meets on Wednesday January 12th at 7:00 PM.  There are no Board of Zoning Appeals hearing in the works at this time.

Advertise yourself, your business or where you work by sending us your business card.  We will put it in the section above on the title bar that is entitled "Business Cards".  There is no cost to you, and the card will remain there until you ask that it be taken down, or when you ask us to replace an old card with a new, more up-to-date card.  You can e-mail the card to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or snail mail it to Jeff Childers, 229 Waterloo Road, Suffield, Ohio 44260. 

Suffield Township Trustee Chairman Jeff Eldreth announced the winners in the now-annual Light Up the Night house decorating contest. The James Winkleman family of 1701 Woodlark Drive was the first place winner for the second year in a row. Second place went to Dawn Ebie of 1124 Polen Avenue. There was a tie between John Denison and Andra Lynn & Bob Johnson. Denison lives at 2409 Congress Lake Road and the Johnson's live at 1317 South Polen Avenue. Fifth place went to Connie McCarty at 43 Pontius Road. Thanks to all the 18 families that participated and congratulations to the winners.