Welcome to Suffield Township

The Suffield Township Board of Trustees met twice on Tuesday October 8th.  At 7:00 PM OTARMA conducted a workshop in which the trustees heard suggestions on how to improve the township's stance in potential claims against the township.  They were reminded to keep their personnel policies up to date, to add "hold harmless" language to their contracts with vendors and how to prepare documents to verify things such as, but not limited to, preventative maintenance to vehicles and equipment, pre-trip inspections and the need to check and verify licensing before employees use township vehicles.

Following the workshop session, the trustees went into the regular scheduled meeting.  Chief Robert Rasnick gave his monthly report for Fire Department activity in August 2019.  Included were 77 calls for service and five continuing educations courses for the staff.  He also asked that the trustees hire Benjamin Humphrey.  Rasnick said that Humphrey is enthusiastic about becoming a Suffield Fire Department employee and that he has his Basic EMT certificate and is a Level Two firefighter.  The trustees hired Humphrey and subjected him to the usual one year probationary period.

The trustees also discussed Christmas lighting around the historic Town Hall and decided on using Greensmen, Inc for the job.  The cost is $3,040.  The lights are to be up and on by Thanksgiving and will be on through the first of the year.  Trustee Jeff Eldreth was given the okay to work on a "Suffield Christmas Lighting Display" program in which residents would decorate their houses and then register the address at  the Fire Department.  Other residents could then check the list to see the locations and several township officials would then judge the decorated houses.  This list of locations will likely be added to this website.  There will be gift cards, in amounts yet to be determined, for the winners.  The prize money would come out of NOPEC funds that the township receives from NOPEC to support township events.

Tomorrow night the Zoning Commission will have a public hearing.  The Commission is proposing to allow larger accessory buildings on smaller lots.  The majority of hearings before the Board of Zoning Appeals in the past several years has been for residents who ask to build larger accessory buildings than the Resolutions currently allow.  Following the hearing the Zoning Commission will continue with their regular business meeting.

Another important announcement was made at the trustee meeting.  Township residents will again be allowed to dump their leaves at 558 Etter Road.  Several reminders must be made.  The dump closes to all traffic at SUNDOWN each day.  When dumping leaves, no other debris, such as branches or trash should be dumped, and if you use plastic bags to transport the leaves, DO NOT LEAVE THE PLASTIC BAGS AT THE DUMP SITE.  

The Fire Department holds it's annual OPEN HOUSE this coming Sunday (October 13th) from 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM.  The Road Department will also be on hand to display their equipment and to allow children to sign their names on the snow plows.  The Portage County Health Department will also be there to administer Flu Shots.  And, of course, there will be a cloud of dust when the Medivac helicopter stops by.  The Suffield Township Historical Society will also have their museum open to the public from 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM.  Mark your calendars for two events this Halloween season.  On Saturday October 26th from 5:00 to 9:00 PM at Wingfoot Lake State Park in the Pine Shelter there will be the first annual Wingfoot Lake State Park Fall Festival.  There will be a lot of activities packed into those four hours.  See the flyer on the right side of  this page.  This event is sponsored by the Wingfoot Lake State Park and the Suffield League.  Then on Sunday October 27th, Trick or Treat will be observed throughout the township from 2:00 to 4:00 PM.

The trustees next meet on Tuesday October 22nd at 7:00 AM.  The Zoning Commission meets at 7:00 PM on Wednesday October 9th.  There are no hearings scheduled for the Board of Zoning Appeals.  

The Suffield Township Board of Trustees met before five citizens on Tuesday September 24th at 7:00 AM.  Trustee chairman Jeff Eldreth asked for a purchase order to pay for road striping.  The PO was approved in the amount of $8,320 to J.D. Striping.  He also asked for PO for $95,600.34 to pay Henry Luli Construction for the recent chip and seal program.  All three trustees voted to expend this money.  Trustee Jared Phillip said he had had an inquiry into the property at 278 Waterloo Road.  This is a property on which the township had demolished a delinquent house several years ago.  All agreed that the township has no further legal interest in the property and the person wanting to purchase it needs to contact the property owner, who appears to be current in their property taxes.  

Zoning inspector Adam Bey told the trustees that the Zoning Commission has revised the allowable square footage for accessory buildings and will be holding the necessary hearings on the matter.  The Commission wants to hold off on printing the new Zoning Resolution books until this new matter can be included in the book.  According to Bey, requests for variances on accessory building sizes is the most prevalent matter coming before the Board of Zoning Appeals in the past year.  It should be noted that these suggested changes will not become effective until the entire hearing process is completed.  Due to time requirements in each step of the procedure, the soonest the changes will become effective is probably January or February of 2020.

Trustee Jeff Eldreth said that the Fire Department will hold its annual Open House on Sunday October 13th from 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM.  The trustees also talked briefly about the Christmas lighting for the Town Hall.  Trustee Tom Calcei said that the cost of lighting has gone up.  The trustees postponed any further discussion until other lighting contractors could be approached.

The trustees next meet on Tuesday October 8th at 7:00 PM.  The Zoning Commission meets on Wednesday October 9th at 7:00 PM.  A public hearing on zoning resolution changes will start the meeting, followed by regular zoning business.  There are no Board of Zoning Appeals hearings scheduled.  Both meetings are in the Suffield Community Room at 1256 Waterloo Road.  All are welcome to attend.

On Tuesday September 10th the Suffield Township Board of Trustees held their semi-monthly meeting at 7:00 AM before eight concerned citizens.  Most of the meeting was purely perfunctory in nature.  Trustee Tom Calcei read the Fire Department's monthly report.  August totals included 71 total calls for service.  The Chief Rasnick asked that the trustees accept the resignation of  firefighter Ben Freeman, who is quitting to take a full time job with the Niles Fire Department.  The Chief also asked that the trustees allow him to hire three new firefighters.  They are Andrew Armstrong, John Crouser and Jordan Stansberry.  They will be required to serve the normal one year probationary period. Calcei also said that the Fire Department's annual Open House will be on Sunday October 13th from 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM.

Trustee chairman Jeff Eldreth said that the Road Department has completed the chip and seal program for this year and that the roads will be striped very soon.  He also reminded the other trustees that Halloween is near.  They voted to keep Trick or Treat times the same as in the past.  Trick or Treat will be on Sunday October 27th from 2:00 PM until 4:00 PM.  The Fall Festival at Wingfoot Lake State Park is scheduled for Saturday October 16 from 5:00 PM until 9:00 PM.

Bill Steiner from the Portage County Solid Waste Management was on hand to speak about the potential upcoming contract between Suffield Township and his agency.  His talk hinted that a modest increase in fees would be likely in order to maintain services that are now provided.  He mentioned that it now costs $22.00 to $23.00 per ton to process recycle materials.  He blames foreign markets for this increase in costs.  Steiner also suggested that part of the problem in costs is that too high of a percentage of users are putting non-recyclable materials in their recycle carts.  His estimate is that about 38% of what is picked up is not recyclable.  His goal is to decrease that number to 10%.  Oddly enough, Steiner could not provided an estimate on how many Suffield residents used his recycle services.  He also mentioned that it is okay to leave the caps on bottles, which is directly opposite of what the Akron Beacon Journal reported.  He said that how Portage County recycles is quite different that how Summit County does it.

The trustees meet again at 7:00 AM on Tuesday September 24th.  The Zoning Commission meets on Wednesday September 11th at 7:00 PM.  No Board of Zoning Appeals hearings are scheduled.  Both the scheduled meetings are at the Suffield Community Room at 1256 Waterloo Road.

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. 

The Suffield Township Board of Trustees met on Tuesday August 27th at 7:00 before four interested citizens.  Lori Calcei said that the township had received a "More Grant" from the Ohio Township Association in the amount of $500.  This is a yearly grant that must be used for safety equipment.  Chairman Jeff Eldreth motioned that the Suffield Township Historical Society be allowed to mount a four foot by eight foot sign on the south side of the museum.  Tom Calcei seconded the motion, which passed by a 2-0 vote.  Fire Chief Bob Rasnick said that Andrew Crano has resigned from the Fire Department.  He also was happy to report that Michael Morrison has been re-instated to the Fire Department with no probation.  Morrison had resigned in July to work full time at another department, but now finds it possible to also work part time here.  Chief Rasnick recommended that Ryan Evans, Grace Fronk and Emma Harrison be placed on the Fire Department roster is "volunteers".  They will serve a one year probationary period.  They have no fire cards, but are enrolling in the fire school later this year.  All three are State Certified basic EMT's and all three passed a preliminary physical agility test.

Jeff Eldreth said that a lot of Suffield Township residents showed animals at the Randolph Portage County Fair last week, and many came home with first place ribbons.  He congratulated them on their achievement. 

Pete Einloth said that the Road Department is working this week on chip and sealing, with the Henry Luli Construction Company, on Manning and Bolender Roads.  Adam Bey reported that the Big Red Foundation is hoping to put up "senior banners" on State Route 43, north of Saxe Road in Brimfield Township.  These senior banners are not of old folks, but rather seniors at Field High School.  There are forty banners to be hung.  John Yeargin said that the Dollar General store on State Route 43, just south of the Road Department garage, has been open for about two weeks, but will have their official grand opening on Saturday August 31st.  Tom Calcei said that there will be a Halloween event at the Wingfoot Lake State Park on Saturday October 26th from 5:00 PM until 9:00 PM.  We will post more details as they become available.

The trustees next meet on Tuesday September 10th at 7:00 AM.  This meeting has been changed from the evening time slot to the morning time and will feature Portage County Solid Waste Management director William Steiner, who was asked to come and discuss his hopes for raising the recycle fees, and, no doubt, will be peppered with other questions on the recycling issue.  The Zoning Commission next meets on Wednesday September 11th at 7:00 PM.  The Board of Zoning Appeals meets TONIGHT at 7:00 PM to hear a request for a variance on an accessory building on North Polen Avenue.

The Suffield Township Board of Trustees met on Tuesday August 13th at 7:30 PM to conduct a public hearing on some Zoning Resolution changes.  After some discussion, the trustees voted 3-0 to accept the changes.  The changes become township law in thirty days unless there is an appeal to the County Prosecutor's Office.  (click here for Zoning Resolution text changes)

Then the trustees met again, this time for their regular business meeting.  Many issues were discussed.  Tom Calcei mentioned that Fire Department Captain Connie Milahik had retired at the end of July after twenty-five years of faithful service.  He also mentioned that she received a check for $10,000 from the trustees in appreciation of her service.  Just two meetings ago the trustees had voted to award fire department employees $10,000, if they had twenty-five or more years of part-time service.   Captain Mihalik is the first Suffield Township employee to receive this benefit.  Part-time fire department workers are not eligible for pensions from either the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund or from the Public Employees Retirement System.  Calcei also gave the monthly fire department report.  The firefighters responded to 84 calls for service in July.

The new Dollar General store on State Route 43 is nearing completion.  They expect to be open approximately September 3rd, but may open before that.  The Dollar General people have informed the trustees that they want to apply for a license to sell beer.  The trustees voted to not oppose their request.  Fiscal Officer Lori Calcei submitted the county-approved 2020 budget and the trustees voted to accept it as written.  The Portage County Board of Elections asked trustee chairman Jeff Eldreth to remind Suffield residents that they are in need of poll workers.  The County will pay poll workers $20 to attend a training session and $120 to man the polls on election day.  Need more info, call 330-297-3512.   Eldreth also mentioned that the 2020 Census is rapidly approaching.  Census workers will be around the township and each will be armed to an official U.S. Census handbag and an official badge. 

Zoning Inspector Adam Bey reported that he had issued some permits for pools and for one new house on Pheasant Lane. He also said that there will be a Board of Zoning Appeals hearing on Tuesday August 27th at 7:00 PM, concerning an accessory building on North Polen Road.  Bey also said that there is some interest in a couple township properties, of which both have become eyesores.  He hopes to have more information to pass along at future meetings.

Jeff Eldreth said that Henry Luli Construction Company is preparing to start the chip and seal program next week and hopes to have about half of the work done before the school year begins.  Eldreth asked for a purchase order in the amount of $18,000 to buy slag.  The trustees agreed to spend the money.

Some familiar faces returned to the crowd tonight.  Of the eleven people present, it was good to see Dennis Copley, Dave Vartenuk and Howard Coomer again.

The trustees next meet Tuesday August 27th at 7:00 AM.  The Board of Zoning Appeals has a hearing on Tuesday August 27th at 7:00 PM.  Both meetings are in the Suffield Communty Room at 1256 Waterloo Road.