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Residents OK street lamps
Residents on Spartan Drive approved a lighting district at the township trustees meeting Wednesday.
About 20 residents came to the meeting to ask questions and vote on the matter, which would permit the Ohio Edison Co. to install five streetlights along Spartan Drive. The cost to each household is $71.30 for the first year and $11.68 annually in subsequent years.
The process to get a lighting district began in the summer when Linda Murphy approached her neighbors about the idea.
“The street is very dark, and we have a lot of children,” Murphy said. “I thought it was important for the neighborhood. I didn’t feel safe walking out there at night.”
Fiscal officer William Leicht also told the Spartan Drive residents that if they would like an additional streetlight, the annual cost might increase.
Another township resident, Jodi Sinkovich, asked the trustees for help with flooding in the backyard of her Melbourne Avenue home, where water quickly rises to a couple of feet during heavy rain.
“The only way to solve it installing a French drain and have it go down four houses. ... It costs over $5,000 to fix it. I wasn’t told about this when I bought the house” about a year ago, she said.
Township Administrator Jason Loree told Sinkovich that the township cannot do work on private property.
If her neighbors are in agreement, however, the township could help create a special service district, and the township would assess the cost of repairs and that cost would be included on participating residents’ taxes.
In other business, the trustees:
Swore in David Sheely, 23, of Mineral Ridge, as a police officer. He is one of 10 new officers whose positions will be funded by the police levy approved in August.
Recognized Kyle O’Brien and Tyler Bartell from Boy Scout Troop 22.
Reminded residents that trick-or-treat hours are from 5 to 7 p.m. Oct. 31.