TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES Boardman OKs land annexation to Poland's forest

More of the flood plain will be kept in its natural state.
BOARDMAN -- Township trustees have unanimously passed a resolution in support of adding 11.5 acres of wooded wetlands in the township to Poland Municipal Forest and having that land annexed to Poland Village.
Poland Village Council has passed a similar resolution in support of the transfer of the land, which is within the Yellow Creek flood plain.
The village is applying for a $60,000 grant from the state's Clean Ohio Fund to buy the land, at 1650 Walker Mill Road, from private landowners who live on adjacent land.
Continuity protection
The resolution says the purpose of the project is to expand Poland Municipal Forest and provide continuity between it and the newly transferred land.
"It will protect land areas from development. It will enhance the forest itself," said William Dunnavant, village councilman and chairman of council's buildings, lands, utilities, parks and recreation committee.
"It will provide continuity between the two protected land areas, and it will also protect the flood plain area," he said. Preserving the annexed land in its natural state will reduce the threat of future flooding, such as that which occurred earlier this year at the Poland library, he said.
"The flood control is paramount to all of us," said Elaine R. Mancini, trustee chairwoman.
Against bill
On another matter discussed Monday, Mancini said she opposes Ohio House Bill 175, which would create a statewide residential building code and limit county and township authority to regulate such construction.
The bill, which has passed the House, is now before the Senate. The Coalition of Large Ohio Urban Townships, or CLOUT, opposes the measure.
Consideration of this bill follows passage earlier this year by the Ohio Legislature of a controversial bill that gives the state the sole authority to regulate gas and oil well drilling, Mancini noted. "They're starting to take away local control," she added.
Trustees also issued proclamations honoring William B. Toohey and William B. Schaal, both longtime road department employees, who have recently retired.