BOARDMAN Flooding concerns are priority for trustee seat

Another issue listed as serious by all three candidates was the fire department.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Three candidates are vying for one seat as trustee, and all three seem to think the recent heavy rains and flood waters that hit the township may be a deciding factor in the race.
Incumbent Elaine Mancini and challengers Paul Shovlin and Linda Kovachik have all said correcting any existing water problems should be one of the top priorities of township officials. One candidate said Mancini had not been aggressive enough in pursuing answers to residents' questions concerning flooding.
The township is in the process of cleaning sewer pipes and retention systems. A company has been hired to take photographs of large sewer pipes in an effort to assess their integrity. A consultant may be hired to develop a plan for the township's more problematic areas.
Mancini points to the measures being taken by trustees as evidence that the issues are being addressed. She said trustees, over the last several years, have invested $2.5 million in storm water management, planning and retention system upgrades.
Mancini has been a township trustee for more than a decade.
Flooding issues
Kovachik said that when Mancini was questioned at a trustees meeting, she was not active enough in addressing the concerns of residents who had experienced flooding.
Kovachik said she did not have any immediate answers to the flooding problem but said she wants to be a spokesperson for the people and an instrument of change in such matters.
Shovlin also said the flooding is a problem that he would like to address as a trustee. He said the matter would have to be discussed with various engineers before any detailed plan could be put together, but he wants to see more than "trustees who just talk" about the issue.
Fire department concerns
Another issue listed as serious by all three candidates was the fire department. Trustees, in 1999, hired a consulting company to assess the department's needs.
Since that time, a three-phase project to upgrade the department has gotten under way.
Mancini said residents will now be seeing the results of a long-term planning process, of which she was a part, for the fire department, including renovation and new construction of fire department facilities, equipment upgrades, and additional manpower.
Kovachik said members of the fire department have spoken to her about the department being understaffed. She wants to make sure a safe number of firefighters are on the job. There are currently 41 firefighters in the department.
Shovlin said a priority should be to get a fourth fire station built in the south end of the township.
Mancini, Shovlin and Kovachik also said deteriorating buildings should be the concern of any trustee. Mancini said the zoning department and home rule are working toward taking care of property maintenance issues.
Shovlin said some areas in the northeast section of the township have taken on a "ghetto" feel. He said the issues are being addressed by home-rule measures, but the process needs to move faster.