CANFIELD Residents request widening, repaving of Gibson

An attorney says the trustees are liable for injuries and damage caused by the road.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- Loran Brooks thinks he found a way for township officials to move ahead with the Gibson Road improvement project. All he had to do was ask.
On Monday, Brooks, the chairman of the township board of zoning appeals and a Gibson Road resident, presented the trustees with a petition asking them to improve the road. He said the petition includes the signatures of 54 percent of those who own lots along the road.
The Ohio Revised Code states that trustees can pass an "appropriate resolution" to improve a road if they receive a petition signed by at least 51 percent of the lot owners. Without a petition, trustees have to vote unanimously for the improvements.
In the past, trustees Bill Reese and Paul Moracco have voted for the improvements, while Trustee Judy Bayus has voted against them.
Brooks said he felt the improvements were "long overdue." Gibson Road, off state Route 46 just north of the city, is 10 to 12 feet wide and marked by potholes.
"We're requesting that you move forward and start moving dirt and widen Gibson Road," Brooks said.
Requested improvements
The $400,000 project calls for the road to be widened to 20 feet and repaved.
"If this is as you say, then Gibson Road may be going forward soon," Reese said. "That's going to be a happy day in this township." He added that the trustees will check to ensure that those who signed the petition own lots on Gibson Road before voting on the improvement project.
Brooks said he finds it difficult to drive his farm equipment on a road so narrow and damaged. Canfield school officials also have expressed safety concerns for children riding school buses on the road, and local residents have collected about 400 signatures on a petition seeking the improvements. All of the signatures aren't from Gibson Road residents.
In addition, trustees recently received a letter from David Comstock Jr., a Youngstown attorney, which stated that they are liable for any injuries caused by the road's poor condition. Comstock represents the Cardinal Joint Fire District, the fire department for the city of Canfield and Canfield Township.
The letter states that on May 5, a firetruck nearly rolled into a ditch on Gibson Road. Some of the firefighters could have experienced "significant" injuries as a result of the accident, according to the letter.
Comstock writes that if the accident had occurred, the township could have been liable for the firefighters' injuries and the damage to the firetruck. The letter states that the fire district will hold the township responsible for future accidents on Gibson Road.
"I would think the fire department letter would bear a lot of weight on this issue," said Pam Crowe, a Boardman Realtor who said she's planning to buy a home in the development under construction at the west end of the road.
Press conference
Bayus, however, said her opinion of the project has not changed. She is planning to hold a press conference to discuss her views at 7 p.m. Thursday in township hall.
The press conference also will be attended by Bayus' private attorney, Frank Boudoir, and engineer J. Robert Lyden.
Bayus said she will support the project if it is funded by Mahoning County. She said county Sanitary Engineer Joseph Warino told trustees the county would install water and sewer lines along the road if the township took responsibility for maintaining the road.
The township took responsibility for the road in 1999, and the water and sewer lines were never installed.
A waterline has since been installed by the developer building homes at the west end of Gibson.