MAHONING COUNTY Austintown trustees: Tell us about flooding problems

Space in the Westchester building can be leased for $12 per square foot.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- If you're a township resident who finds that your yard becomes a lake or your basement becomes filled with sewage during every heavy rainfall, the township trustees say they want to hear from you.
"I urge anybody, even if it's a neighbor, that's being impacted [by flooding] to call us and let us know what's taking place," Trustee Bo Pritchard said at Monday night's trustees' meeting. "Please, please make time to make the phone call."
Trustee David Ditzler said township officials are hoping to document flooding problems in the community so they can create plans for a solution. Once the plans are complete, the township can seek federal or state funding to pay for new sewers, catch basins, or other measures that will reduce flooding, Ditzler said.
Discussed with residents
Ditzler noted that he talked about flooding with residents along Ayrshire and Edinburgh drives and New Road in the Wedgewood neighborhood during a storm earlier this month. Some Ayrshire residents have built drains and rock walls to direct water away from their homes and toward New Road, he said.
Rain from the storm had filled catch basins and poured through streets in the neighborhood to the base of the hill near the intersection of New Road and Edinburgh Drive, Ditzler said. New Road was flooded between the base of the hill and South Raccoon Road, he added.
Ditzler also stressed, however, that Austintown's flooding problems aren't as widespread as they were in the early 1990s, when Road Superintendent Michael Bertilacci created the township's storm-water management plan.
Using the plan, as well as about $4.5 million in federal and state grant money, the township has completed projects which have reduced flooding for hundreds of homes and entire neighborhoods, he said.
Today, most of the township's flooding complaints come from individual homeowners, not entire neighborhoods, Ditzler said.
Residents with flooding problems should call township hall at (330) 792-8139, trustees said.
Seeking to lease space
Trustees also are continuing to look for businesses or organizations willing to lease a total of about 20,000 square feet of vacant space in the township's building at 100 Westchester Drive.
Space in the building is being offered for $12 per square foot per month, with all utilities included, Township Administrator Michael Dockry said.
Trustees also voted unanimously to use Landmark Real Estate Services as the real estate agent for the vacant space through Jan. 14. Landmark has been the agent for the space for the last six months.
During that time, only two businesses have toured the space, Ditzler said. He cited the slow economy as the reason for the lack of interest.
hill@vindy.com