Letting people know they crossed the line

The council will give awards for improvements to dilapidated buildings.
AUSTINTOWN -- Janet Mau wants to welcome you to Austintown, a community that you may not know is in Mahoning County.
"Nobody knows we're here," said Mau, a member of the Austintown Council of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber. "Even the [exit] sign on Interstate 680 says Canfield. We're right down the road. What happened?"
During the next few months, Mau will be working with other local residents to install signs along roads marking the entrance to the township. She said she hopes the signs will help improve Austintown's visibility and image.
Current signage
For now, there are only a few signs identifying the township along local roads. One of those is a message board at the intersection of Raccoon Road, Mahoning Avenue, and Norquest Boulevard.
There are also two large white signs along state Route 46 that read, in black letters, "Welcome. Austintown, Ohio. Founded 1798. Growing Greater."
A small green-and-white sign with the words "Austintown Township" also has been installed on Mahoning Avenue just west of Meridian Road.
The Austintown Council may ask the Boy Scouts to help create signs, said council co-chairwoman Lisa Oles.
Mau's effort to install more signs is part of Austintown Council's drive to improve the township. Council co-chairman Sandy DeSantis said he believes that by improving the township, the council can take a step toward improving the entire Mahoning Valley.
"We're looking to do our little part to improve the bigger picture," he said.
DeSantis stressed, however, that the council needs more volunteers to help work on its improvement projects.
Business award
Those projects include a plan to give a monthly award to a business that renovates or improves its building. DeSantis asked business owners seeking the award to submit before and after pictures of their buildings to the council.
The first award is expected to be given out in December.
Oles added that the council also is handing out awards to organizations that demonstrate "a sincere dedication and commitment to our community."
The first of those awards was given Friday to the Highway Tabernacle on South Raccoon Road, which held social programs for young people after this year's Fitch High School football games.
"The kids really look forward to going there," Oles said. "It's a place for them to unwind."
Addressing blight
Oles also said that in the future, council members hope to meet with the owners of dilapidated buildings in the township in an effort to address blight.
"If [the township trustees] can't control it with home rule, we would like to do it on a personal level and just say, 'Look, look what you're doing to our township,'" she said.
Trustees had hoped to establish a township property maintenance code under home rule, a limited form of self-government. Home rule, however, was overturned by voters in this month's election.
hill@vindy.com