Several projects’ delay upsets residents

The projects are only on hold, not scrapped, the administrator says.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

BOARDMAN — A decision by township trustees to shelve six flood control projects because of a financial crunch upsets some water-logged residents.

Trustees earmarked $1.25 million of the 2006 budget to complete six projects to curb flooding. The work was expected to start this spring, and about $155,000 has been spent on engineering for the work.

But earlier this month the trustees put those projects on hold.

“I don’t understand why,” said Dee Kountz of Tara Drive.

She believed after many meetings with township officials that one of the projects — widening a detention area running behind properties on Tara and Alverne Drive — would alleviate flooding problems at her home.

The basement of her 29-year-old home has flooded three times, once in 1990 and twice in 2003, with between 4 and 6 feet of water each time, she said. Neighbors experienced similar episodes, she said.

“We were told that the money had been appropriated and the work was supposed to start around this time,” Kountz said.

She said she’s been to several meetings over the years where township officials have said the problem would be addressed, but nothing’s happened yet. “It’s like we’re yo-yos over here,” Kountz said.

Projects on hold

Jason Loree, township administrator, said the projects haven’t been scrapped. “They’re on hold,” he said.

The decision was a financial one, Loree said. The township is expecting less-than-projected revenue this year because of changes in state funding, and departments have been asked to make recommendations for cuts.

Township voters could see some type of levy on the ballot this fall, although no decisions have been made.

Loree said he expects the flooding projects to be discussed as trustees determine the township’s priorities in the wake of dwindling revenue.

Trustee Elaine Mancini said trustees still hope to complete the projects at some point.

“They’re on hold until we know what exactly our financial picture is” for the remainder of this year and for 2008, Mancini said. “We have to know, and I don’t think that any of us knows right now.”

She pointed out that the Market Street Elementary project, in the planning stages for years, is moving forward. That project, funded in part by a state grant, involves creation of a detention basin on school property.

Unhappy residents

Mary Jo Nyers, also of Tara, experienced flooding similar to Kountz’s at her home in 1990 and 2003.

“We had several inches coming from the backyard up to the foundation, and the street itself was flooded and we had water coming out of the manholes,” Nyers said.

After hearing information from township officials and engineers about the Tara-Alverne project, she believed it would curb the problem. News that the work was postponed was unwelcome.

“I’m not happy at all,” she said. “I am very upset.”

Nyers only knows what she’s heard through word-of-mouth. She says the township has been good about keeping residents informed about the project’s status, but that she’s received no official word about shelving it.

Boardman Lake effects

After heavy rains of 2003 flooded her home three times, Millie Naples of Aylesboro Avenue believed relief was on the way with the township’s plan to enlarge Boardman Lake, which sits between Ewing Road and Brookfield Drive.

That too is one of the six projects and, like Kountz and Nyers, Naples will have to keep waiting.

“I’m very angry,” she said. “We trusted them to do the right thing, and they’re not keeping their word.”

Naples said she and her husband, Lou, used to go to trustees’ meetings regularly, but her husband grew ill, preventing them both from attending. She learned that the projects were on hold indefinitely when Trustee Kathy Miller, who voted against the motion to postpone the work, told her.

Trustees also placed other projects that involve matching money from the township on the back burner because of the financial situation.

Naples says her worries will continue, especially during heavy rain when the couple puts their furniture up on blocks to prevent damage. “We trusted them [the trustees] and they seemed sincere,” she said.