Friday, January 31, 2003
Township residents will be asked what they like and don't like about their community.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Donna Buzulencia points her green disposable camera at the aging red- and brown-brick facade of Austintown Middle School and snaps a picture.
"It really needs to be replaced," Buzulencia says. Parker McHenry, sitting in a nearby car, adds, "Just compare it to any middle school in the area. There's no comparison.
"All you have to say about the building is that it's 87 years old," he says.
McHenry and Buzulencia are members of the steering committee for 20/20-Austintown, an effort to plan for the township's future. They were given disposable cameras to document what they like and don't like about their community.
Public meetings
The first public meetings to collect residents' comments about the plan are to be Thursday night. Public meetings also will be Feb. 4.
Austintown Middle School was built in 1916 and needs repairing. Pupils have said they've seen plaster fall from the school's ceiling and hit their classmates.
Both McHenry and Buzulencia said they were disappointed that in November 2001 and May 2002 voters rejected a bond issue that would have allowed the district to replace the school.
"People are going to have to understand that you have to pay taxes to have amenities," McHenry said.
Victoria Road industries
After leaving the school, McHenry and Buzulencia drove to the industrial park on Victoria Road, where Buzulencia snapped a picture of the renovated Boak and Sons, Inc. building.
The clean, modern yellow-brick structure provides a stark contrast to the middle school.
Buzulencia also stood in Victoria Road facing south and took a picture of other businesses. McHenry and Buzulencia each said they liked that the industrial park produces needed tax revenue for the area and provides jobs for local residents.
Dr. Fred Owens, president of the Austintown Growth Foundation, said he thinks the pictures will give township residents a new perspective on their community. The growth foundation initiated 20/20-Austintown and is raising $25,000 to pay it.
"The whole idea is that they go out and document what is striking to them," Owens said. "When people see things through other people's eyes, they see things anew."
He said each member of the steering committee -- about 20 -- and other members of the community were given cameras for the project. The pictures will be displayed at a future 20/20-Austintown meeting.
Public input
Under the direction of Dr. James Segedy, Ball State's director of community-based projects, students will divide township residents who attend the meetings Thursday and Feb. 4 into small groups. Segedy and the students have been hired by the growth foundation to create the plan.
Segedy said he and the students will ask the residents to talk about their community and describe "what they like, what they don't like, what they want and what they need."
McHenry and Buzulencia said they like the quality of services provided by the township's schools and police, fire, and road departments. Buzulencia also said she thinks the township has affordable housing, and that the new Austintown library is a nice addition to the community.
"I think the library has brought this community a little closer together, because you find so many people there," she said.
The township's park also is an asset, Buzulencia and McHenry said.
When asked what she didn't like about Austintown, Buzulencia pointed to the tall commercial signs that line Mahoning Avenue. The signs make the road look cluttered, she and McHenry said.
Creating goals
Segedy said that before the end of the public meetings, the Ball State group will use residents' comments to devise township goals. Those goals will be used in the creation of a draft plan, which will be presented to the public in March.
The final copy of the plan is expected to be complete in August. The steering committee will oversee implementation of the plan.
hill@vindy.com