The Suffield Board of Trustees met on a dreary late-fall-like day at 7:00 AM before a crowd of four interested citizens.
Fiscal Officer Lori Calcei had some good news for the trustees. She had reported at the last trustee meeting that Suffield Township was to receive up to $282,360 in CARES grant money. Well, now the county auditor has updated the potential apportionment and Suffield is in line for up to $310,947. This is money that must be spent on COVID 19 related expenses and must be expended by the first of the year. It appears that using the money to pay Fire Department payrolls is an acceptable expense and that this is where some, if not most, of the money will be used. Tom Calcei gave the Fire Department report and said that ten year employee Sara Slanina has resigned from the Fire Department, while Jacob Ricketts has been added to the roster and placed on the customary one year probation. The trustees voted to accept the resignation and the appointment. At the Fire Chief's request, several trees along the south side of the Fire Department property will be taken down and a vinyl privacy fence erected to prevent the headlights of Fire Department vehicles from shining in the windows of the neighboring property.
Trustee Jared Phillip has been in discussions with Spectrum about getting cable and internet service to the houses along Carriage House Drive. He mentioned a figure of about $45,000 that the township and/or residents would have to pay upfront, but also said that there may be grants available for this sort of endeavor. Before this goes any further, Phillip said that a survey needs to be done to see if the residents are actually in favor of pursing this.
The new salt barn that has been in the planning stages for quite some time is getting nearer to becoming a reality. Purchasing the property across State Route 43 from the Road Department Service Building took some time and the planning for the actual hoop-style structure took some time, but it recently has been the County Building Department's permit process that has held up things. According the Eldreth, the contractor is now able to build the structure, but due the extended permit process, he has had to reschedule the construction dates. Eldreth said that the salt barn would be up and operation before winter arrives.
Jeff Eldreth recalled that the annual Township Clean Up Day this year had been canceled due to the COVID 19 virus, thus residents had no sensible way to get rid of old tires as in past years. Eldreth learned that there is a FREE Tire Drop Off on Monday thru Friday, November 9-13th at the Bob Sumerel Tire Company, 480 Cleveland Road in Ravenna. See the above flyer for more information. Keep in mind that this is for tires only, no other items, such as batteries, will be accepted.
The next trustee meeting will be on Tuesday November 10th at 7:00 PM (this is a seasonal time change). The Zoning Commission will meet on Wednesday November 11th at 7:00 PM. No Board of Zoning Appeals hearings are currently scheduled. The meetings are open to the public and are at the Suffield Community Room, 1256 Waterloo Road.
