BOARDMAN Trustee wants system for handling drainage

The program must be implemented by the county.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Township Trustee Kathy Miller is hoping to implement a drainage and storm water system similar to that of Delaware County, but other township officials don't seem enthusiastic about the idea.
Miller met with representatives from Delaware County Wednesday to discuss the Delaware storm water drainage maintenance program.
The Delaware drainage maintenance program collects funds to conduct a minimum annual inspection, make repairs and replace drainage systems when needed.
According to Milt Link, drainage maintenance supervisor of Delaware County, under the Delaware program, any developer must petition the county commissioners at platting time for subdivision drainage improvements that will be placed on the development. Platting is not approved without drainage being placed on the drainage maintenance program.
The developer, explained Link, must then pay the first-year maintenance assessment, which is 2 percent of the cost of the storm water drainage system. The program is supported by special assessments to the property tax of individual property owners in a given subdivision or commercial development.
For current or older developments, landowners must petition county commissioners for participation in the maintenance program.
Authority questioned
Miller said Stark County is implementing a similar program and such a program is needed locally.
According to Link, however, the township does not have the authority to initiate such a program. It must be done on the county level, he said.
Miller, earlier this week, told the other two township trustees, Tom Costello and Elaine Mancini, that she had invited county officials to attend the meeting. No one from the county attended the meeting.
Joe Caruso, director of special projects for Mahoning County, said he planned to attend the meeting but was called to other business. He said county commissioners in conjunction with the county engineer and storm water management have been looking at drainage issues.
Caruso said county officials are willing to take a look at the Delaware program, but he could not say if implementing the plan here would be feasible until it has been reviewed. Any drainage plan in Mahoning County would have to be in conjunction with other county initiatives, he said.
Mancini said township trustees, as a group, will not support a similar program on drainage maintenance unless county officials take "a leading role" in the effort. She said she spoke with county officials and was told the county had no interest in a similar program at this time.
What's planned
Mancini said the township is focusing on its own storm water management and flooding project. Township officials will meet with residents March 8 to continue discussing the findings of a six-month study into township flooding issues.
Township Clerk William Leicht has other concerns about the Delaware program Miller is proposing. He said the funds collected from Boardman subdivisions, under the plan, would be put into the county general fund. That money, he said, might get used for projects outside the township.
Miller said the program is worthwhile.
"This is the right thing to do. You need to have maintenance on these subdivisions," she said. "This was just an opportunity to introduce a concept to people and see where it goes."
jgoodwin@vindy.com