Trustees can’t fix water problem

Trustees can’t fix water problem

The Vindicator reported on the July 11 Springfield Township trustees meeting regarding the ditch along my property at Wood Street and state Route 170 that has been an uphill battle for years.

Trustee Don Williams admitted at the meeting that he told me that the ditch was unsafe and it needed to be fixed. Trustee Bob Ore also stated when he looked at the ditch on one of his visits that it was a real mess. Why would the trustees put township citizens’ safety in jeopardy? My hunch is that the road department superintendant is refusing to do the job. He made the statement to former Trustee Rick Jones and I that he would have the final say.

My neighbor behind me was getting flooded first after the sewer construction company sloped the road the wrong way. When the company running the water lines built the dirt back up, it diverted the water onto my property and caused my home and property to get flooded. Once I discovered where the water was coming from I started to make phone calls.

Since the construction company was hired by Mahoning County, I contacted Commissioner Dave Ludt, who said that it needed to be corrected. I called Ludt many times but the problem was never rectified. I also contacted Patty Payne from the Attorney General’s office, Chris Moody from the Ohio EPA division of surface water, Congressman Bill Johnston, Anne Powell from ODOT District 4, along with some others. I tried to get this corrected on my own with no help at all from my trustees.

I always thought that it was the township administrator’s (our trustees) responsibility to monitor work being done in their community, not the responsibility of the community’s citizens.

I have lived in Springfield Township all of my life. I purchased my current home in 1978. Ask yourself if you would be happy with a ditch next to your home that you worked your whole life for, and then ask again if you feel that it is safe for our children and residents of the community.

Daryl Hoffman, Petersburg