Welcome to Suffield Township

On Tuesday October 12 the Suffield Township Board of Trustees met to discuss an assortment of issues.  Fire Chief Bob Rasnick reported that the Fire Department responded to, what he believes, was a record number of calls for a month's service.  Ninety-seven times the firemen went on calls.  He reported that Firefighters Kevin Lessman and Kris Hendershot resigned from the department.  No one has been chosen to take their places on the roster.  The Chief was also very pleased with the Open House on October 10th and the number of people that turned out to participate.  Breast Cancer Awareness Month tee shirts are on sale at the Fire Department for $20.00 each.  All proceeds from the sale of shirts will be given to families of breast cancer victims. 

A lengthy discussion on a Christmas Lighting contest was had with no final decision of whether to join a competition similar to last year's or join with other communities, to include, but not limited to: the City of Stow and the City of Tallmadge.  A new antiques store is going to open at the corner of Waterloo Road and State Route 43 in the building that formerly housed a used car lot and a video store before that.  No date was given for the grand opening.   The trustees signed an agreement with the county commissioners to renew their contact for solid waste management, namely curbside recycling.  The new short-term agreement calls for bi-weekly pickups and a charge to your property taxes in the amount of $5.50 per month.  The new agreement extends the contract from January 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

The Suffield League and the Wingfoot Lake Park are working together to present a Fall Festival at the park on Friday October 29th from 5:00 PM till 9:00 PM.  There will be live music, hayrides, a Trunk or Treat, a Spooky Haunted Trail and S'mores.  For more information, call the park office at 628-4720.  Board chairman Jeff Eldreth suggested that the trustees organize a night at the movies.  This would be held indoors at the historic Town Hall.  More on this later. 

The trustees meet next on Tuesday October 28th at 7:00 AM.   The Zoning Commission meets on Wednesday October 13th at 7:00 PM and the Board of Zoning Appeals meets on Tuesday October 19th at 8:00 PM.  Best wishes to Zoning Commission chairman John Yeargin and his wife Judy on their recent illnesses.

The Leaf Dump for 2021 has opened for the season, effective October 1st.  It is located at 558 Etter Road (the same location as the past several years).  You may dump leaves from sun rise to sun down.  No stumps, branches or other debris is permitted.  If you bag leaves, you must dump the leaves and take the bags home with you.  Sufffield appreciates the kindness of the property owner for again allowing residents to have a place to dump their leaves.

The Suffield Township Board of Trustees met on Tuesday September 14th before a crowd of about ten residents.  The Fiscal Officer reported that the township had received $51,637 from the County.  This came from the Local Government Fund.  It represents the township's share of money dispersed to the various components within Portage County.  It is approximately the same amount as the township received last year and will for the next several years.  Discussion of the controversial recycling program was postponed due to the absence of trustee Tom Calcei.  It was made public that the current director of the Portage County  Solid Waste District, William Steiner, is leaving his post and, at least temporarily, being replaced by Dawn Collins.

Chief Bob Rasnick asked that two men be hired by the trustees.  They are Jeremy Richards and Peyton Ridenour.  They were added to the roster and will be required to serve the usual one year probationary period.  Welcome to Jeremy and Peyton.  The Chief also asked and received approval to pay the three new full-time paramedics retroactively to September 1st.  Without overtime, their base pay will be $43,396. 

Congress Lake Road resident Cheryl Bowers complained of speeders on her street and the need for a "Hidden Drive" sign on Congress Lake Road near Meadowlark Drive.  John Yeargin asked about paving and was told by trustee Jeff Eldreth that Ridge Road and Highline Drive will not be repaved this year.  Eldfreth said that the chip & seal program has been completed for this year.  He also asked the fiscal officer for a purchase order in the amount of $7,240 to pay for road striping.  JD Striping of Ravenna will do the job again this year.

Trick or Treat will be held in Suffield Township on Sunday October 31st from 2:00 PM until 4:00 PM.  The trustees plan to work with Portage County Engineer's Office employee Mike Collins to use Issue II funds to do work on Schaffer Road.  A complaint of weeds growing in the water along Martin Road near "Nine Foot Hill" was brought up.  Long time Suffield resident and trustee's meeting participant Pauline Persons and Cheryl Bowers came to the meeting.  Welcome back Pauline and Cheryl.

The trustees meet again on Tuesday September 28th at 7:00 AM.  The Zoning Commission meets on Wednesday October 13th at 7:00 PM.  Both meetings are in the Suffield Community Room and open to the public.

 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. 

Michael Morrison, Kasey Beaver and T.J. Fox were sworn in as Suffield's first full-time Paramedic/Firefighters on August 31st.

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Trustee Tom Calcei, Fiscal Officer Lori Calcei, Michael Morrison, Kasey Beaver, T.J. Fox, Trustee Jeff Eldreth and Trustee Jarod Phillip at swearing-in ceremony on August 31.

The Suffield Township Board of Trustees met on Tuesday evening August 10th before a small gathering of six people.  For the most part the meeting was very routine in nature with a number of topics discussed.  Fire Chief Bob Rasnick said that his department responded to 76 calls for service in July.  This included five water rescues.  He also asked that the trustees hire Connor Hostetler and Ethan Murphy.  While trustee Tom Calcei was absent, Jared Phillip and Jeff Eldreth approved he hiring and imposed the usual one year probationary period for both new firefighters.  Rasnick also said that at the August 24th meeting he will submit three names to the trustees to be considered for the one new full-time paramedic position. 

The trustees postponed updating the Employee Handbook until Mr. Calcei returns.  Several small changes need to be made to bring the book up to current times.  Jared Phillip said that the address for the salt barn property is 1216 State Route 43.  The trustees will accept a grant of $500 from the Celebrate Portage Committee.  This money will be spent on the upcoming event to be held at Suffield Elementary School on August 30th at 6:30 PM.  This is an event that is meant to welcome the children back to school.  More to come on this later.

Jeff Eldreth announced that the Henry Luli Company will soon begin this year's Chip & Seal program.  The township plans to pave about 7.1 miles of roadway.  The streets to be paved are: Saxe Road from State Route 43 to the dead end, Martin Road from State Route 224 to Saxe Road, Griggy Road from Waterloo Road to Swartz Road, Swartz Road from State Route 43 to Congress Lake Road and Trares Road from State Route 43 to Congress Lake Road.  Cost will be in the $130,000 range.  Eldreth said he hopes to have this done before the schools open.

The trustees also authorized the fiscal officer to apply for grant funds offered through the American Rescue Plan, which are funds that would come from the federal government.  It was agreed that there will be a lot of strings attached and rules to be adhered to by the township in order to get and use this money, which was estimated to be about $634,000

The trustees next meet on Tuesday August 24th at 7:00 AM.  The Zoning Commission meets on Wednesday August 11th at 7:00 PM.  There is a Board of Zoning Appeal hearing in the works, but no date has been set.  The Portage County Fair begins on Tuesday August 24th and runs through August 29th.