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On Tuesday April 25th the Suffield Township Board of Trustees met before nine die-hard citizens.  The most important measure of business was to open the sealed envelopes containing the bids for road materials.  The bidders took the "sealed" portion of the instructions very seriously, as trustee Tom Calcei had to resort to using a pocket knife on loan from Ron Mishler to accomplish the task.  Trustee Jeff Eldreth read the bids from eight different suppliers.  The trustees were apparently pleased with the prices, saying that they were very much in line with last year's prices.  The trustees voted to accept the bids and will likely choose the winning bids at the next meeting.  

Fiscal Officer Lori Calcei reported that the medical insurance for employees was going to increase by 1%, which she assured the trustees that this was as good as could be expected.  The zoning inspector said that the house at 1560 Carriage House Drive is still being processed and that a new public hearing on its demolition should be sometime in early summer.  Tom Calcei said that the wanted to move forward on this, but that he wanted to make certain that everything was done to legal perfection so that nothing would come back to hold up the proceedings.  The property at 698 Waterloo Road, formerly known as Copeland's Landing, was sold at Sheriff's Auction in March and the occupants have been working to clean up the property.  Adam Bey reported that Alvin & Alana Rufener are planning to open a custard stand in conjunction with their current business, Rufener's Hilltop Farms Seasonal Market. 

In an important zoning issue, the trustees and fiscal officer have come to an agreement that money will be made available to pay the Portage County Regional Planning Commission for work done to rewrite the Suffield Land Use book.  This book makes projections on township land use and growth for the years 2020 to 2040.  While the Zoning Commission is actually in charge of writing the book, the Regional Planning Commission does a lot of the technical work on things like mapping, data collection and polling. From doing these tasks for other townships, the Regional Planning Commission has the experience to make this project move along more quickly.

The next trustees meeting is Tuesday May 9th at 8:00 PM, and the next Zoning Commission meeting is Wednesday May 10th at 7:00 PM.  Both meetings are at the Suffield Township Administration Building.  There are currently no Board of Zoning Appeals hearings in the works.  

Ray Hoffman, noted World War II historian, will speak to the Suffield Township Historical Society on Monday April 17th at 7:00 PM as the acclaimed "Speaker Series"   continues.  A DVD presentation about the WASPS (Women's Air Force Service Pilots) will precede Hoffman's talk.  He will happily take questions.  Doors to the Fire House Community Room open at 6:30 PM.  There will be a very short business session before Hoffman takes the podium for his presentation at 7:00 PM.  Some light refreshments will be available.

The Historical Society also invites the public to view the museum, now that the recent renovation has been completed.  The museum is located in the building that was the original fire station for Suffield's Fire Department, which was founded in 1942.  By 1971, a larger and newer fire station was needed, so one was built on Waterloo Road where the current Fire House parking lot is now situated.  The original fire station was used by the Road Department from 1971 until the township trustees leased the building to the Suffield Township Historical Society for use as a museum.  Thousands of dollars and many, many hours of work by volunteers have been spent on this project to make Suffield's museum one of the finest non-publicly-supported facilities of its kind in the Akron-Canton area.  This most recent renovation, which includes new shelving, cabinets and counters, was done by Gary Apitz, Gino Calcei, Ken Durick, Tom Mencer and Ralph Wise.  As with all projects, a certain cost is involved.  To raise necessary funds for improvements, the Historians will have their annual "Plant Sale" on Friday & Saturday, May 12 &13th in front of the museum from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM.  Donation of plants would be greatly appreciated.  Call president Judy Calcei at 330-606-5127 for information.

The regular Suffield Township Board of Trustees meeting normally held on the second Tuesday of the month caused some conflict in schedules, so it was changed to Monday April 10th at 8:00 PM.  Whether it was the change of days or just too nice a Spring evening to spend on township business, a much smaller than usual crowd of six persons showed up to watch the trustees conduct business.  Trustee Tom Calcei reported that all was well at the Fire Department.  He said that some new security cameras had been placed around the exterior of the Fire House.  Some talk was had on putting more cameras up in order to record the exterior of the Town Hall, the Road Department complex and the Administration Building.  No decision was reached on this.  Calcei also said that he talked with Portage County Solid Waste Management director William Steiner and had learned that for the first three months of this year the tonnage of recyclables received from Suffield residents was 9.2 tons in January (which was comprised of one week of pickups), 39.32 tons in February and 29.47 ton in March.  The rate of users was consist with 53% of the residents using recycle pickup in February and 51% in March.  

Trustee Jeff Eldreth reported that a new culvert had been installed on Idlewood Drive.  He also said that 4.3 miles of roads will be repaired this summer.  Those roads are:  Trares Road, from Congress Lake Road to Conley Road, all of May Road, all of Kehner Road, and Swartz Road from Griggy Road to the East township line.  Eldreth wants to look into a partial rebuild of Snake Hill (Trares Road east of Congress Lake Road).  The trustees voted to put in a bid with the Ohio Department of Transportation to buy up to 400 tons of salt next winter.  

After lengthy discussion, the trustees voted 2-1 to award a mowing contract to Silver Star Landscaping.  The contract specifies the contractor may mow, as needed, up to thirty times per year.  The contractor will mow the grass in the township's three cemeteries, around the Town Hall, Road Department complex and the Administration Building.

The Suffield Township Board of Trustees meet again on Tuesday April 25th at 8:00 PM.  The Zoning Commission meets Wednesday April 12th at 7:00 PM.  There are no Board of Zoning Appeals hearings scheduled.

In a split vote, the Suffield Township trustees voted to approve a contract with the Portage County Commissioners that calls for curbside recycle pickup beginning in January 2017.  Trustees Jeff Eldreth and Tom Calcei voted in favor the of the contract and Dave Vartenuk voted no.  Discussion before the vote and after the signing was limited.  Don Monroe still has questions on how a big truck is going to be able to navigate Fox Lane.  He was told to contact Bill Steiner, who has promised to come out to the home of anyone who feels that they have a special situation needing addressed.  It was also pointed out that the Portage County Solid Waste Management (PCSWM) could be contacted by calling 678-8808.  This website has suggested that everyone should take a couple minutes and read up on recycling by visiting the PCSWM website at Portagerecycles.com.   Most all your questions can be answered there.    We will have more info on the actual implementation of the program in the days ahead.

Jeff Eldreth commented on the "Serving Those Who Serve" dinner that was held at the Town Hall earlier that day.  He said that he was impressed with the program, which was headed by Brianna Sweazy, Amanda Roberts and Jessica Wiley.  These girls are part of a mentoring program in the Field Schools called "Girl Talk G.L.I.T.T.E.R."  Eldreth said that the turnout was good with about 17 firemen, four police officers and one veteran being served.

Dave Vartenuk said that the demolition of the house at 1560 Carriage House Drive is still on hold while Chris Meduri of the County Prosecutor's Office works on the hopefully final details.  Reports of a man living in a motor home on Saxe Road are apparently true.  A man has been staying in his motor home while he works to re-hab his sister's house after it was partially destroyed in a fire about two months ago.  

Tom Calcei said that Fire Chief Robert Rasnick has again applied for some grants.  One is for $450,000 to replace a twenty-year-old pumper truck, and one is for about $36,000 to buy new "turn-out gear".  If successful in obtaining the grants, the township would have to put up 5% of matching money.  The Fire Department responded to 71 calls last month.  Calcei also said that the Suffield League to sponsoring a drive to collect enough money to light the Town Hall.  Of the $1,800 needed, they have collected about $400.  Persons interested in helping with this worthy cause can send donations, which are tax deductible, to:  the Suffield League, 1196 Meadowview Drive, Brimfield, Ohio 44240.

It was noted that the leaf dump at 558 Etter Road will remain open this year until early December.  A reminder to those still needing to get rid of leaves: the leaf dump closes daily at sundown.