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Poland Township trustees face backlash on ditch issue
POLAND
Poland Township Trustees Robert Lidle and Eric Ungaro got into a heated exchange with a resident Thursday over the township’s handling of a ditch that has posed a problem for residents of Cliffview and Camella drives for years.
“We’re probably going to seek legal action, I’d imagine,” said Steve Stanislav, a resident of Cliffview Drive who has spearheaded the residents’ efforts at getting the township to fix the ditch.
Built about 40 years ago, the ditch has expanded over the past few decades, causing erosion on several properties.
Last week, the township released the opinion of Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains, which said the township is not responsible for fixing drainage facilities installed by residential developers unless the facilities are needed to remove water from a road.
According to Stanislav, the ditch does drain water from the road. Stanislav believes the entire ditch is part of an easement, which is a right of way for utilities and is the township’s responsibility to maintain. Trustees, though, say the ditch is not part of an easement.
“I’m the kind of person who likes to have faith in local government officials,” Stanislav said. “But I’ve had enough.”
Other business at the trustees meeting involved an ongoing flooding problem in Canterbury Creek, a development “built on a swampland,” according to Lidle.
“We’ve had flooding issues over in Canterbury for years. There have been numerous attempts to get grant funding,” Lidle said.
The board sought the help of Thomas Fok & Associates, an engineering firm, to plan a project to correct the drainage system.
A representative from the company presented the board with an option that would install a better retention system at a cost of $457,500 to the township, an option Lidle said is simply not feasible. The Ohio Public Works Commission would cover 39 percent of the cost, totaling $292,500.
Residents are being asked to go through an application process in which they document all flooding and sanitation issues they have had on their property.
Also Thursday, trustees discussed the ongoing sidewalk project along state Route 170. Lidle raised a concern about a section of the sidewalk near Denver Drive where the ground slopes steeply downward and does not follow the contours of the road. Lidle said he hoped an embankment would be built.
“The project is going very, very well. There are just a few glitches we are trying to get worked out,” Lidle said. “It was always the township’s intention to have that [section] elevated ... and we’re just trying to work that out.”
Other discussion centered on installation of lighting on several township streets. Residents of Suncrest Drive have raised concerns about safety, saying they cannot park their cars on the street because there are no streetlights. Other residents said they do not want Ohio Edison to install lighting because it’s an intrusion onto their properties.
And trustees voted unanimously to adopt a resolution renewing the township’s participation in a natural gas aggregation program, in which Independent Energy Consultants, a natural gas provider, gives all enrolled communities a fixed rate.