Trustees address options for property

A local athlete was honored and a Christmas ceremony scheduled.
AUSTINTOWN -- Township trustees are trying to find out how to get an eyesore property on Meridian Road cleaned up.
Trustee chairwoman Lisa Oles had asked zoning inspector Mike Kurilla to check the situation with the old ATD building there.
Kurilla told her at the trustees' meeting Monday that the weeds in front of the building are 6 to 8 feet high. He said later that the county has a right-of-way in front of the building, and he does not know why the weeds weren't cut. Other weeds along that stretch of road were, he said.
Kurilla said that if the 150,000-square-foot building were found to be structurally deficient, the township could order it demolished. But he said the township doesn't have enough working capital to take on a demolition project of that size itself.
Kurilla said the company that occupied the building, which was Austintown Tool and Die, is in the final stages of a bankruptcy procedure. He said the township hopes to approach a new owner to deal with the problems. Oles said there have been complaints and questions from residents about the building.
In other business, police chief Bob Gavalier told trustees that it isn't likely a three-way stop sign will be installed on Raccoon Road near the Austin log cabin. There have been a number of accidents there, trustees said.
Gavalier said the county intends to roughen the road for winter to help prevent skidding. He said there are "caution" signs up.
Honoring athlete
The trustees declared today "Anthony Napolitan Day" in Austintown.
Napolitan, 20, who graduated from Fitch High School in 2004, won the world championship in the BMX Dirt Bike Jumping Finals on the Dew Action Sports Tour on Oct. 13 in Orlando, Fla. He also went to this year's Summer X-Games in Los Angeles and earned a third-place bronze medal. He was the youngest BMX dirt bike competitor there.
He's been nominated for Action Sport Rookie of the Year and Action Sport Athlete of the Year. The Action Sport Awards are set for Dec. 10 in Burbank, Calif. Napolitan now lives in Woodward, Pa. His mother, Vickie Napolitan, lives in Austintown with his brother, Ronald, 15, and sister Hannah, 14. His grandparents, Effie and William Lewis, also live in Austintown.
The township's annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony is set for 7 p.m. Dec. 7 in Wickliffe Circle. A sing-along starts at 6:45 p.m.