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.