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Now that Canfield city, township have tentative agreement, what about a proposed facility left without water?
By ROBERT CONNELLY
CANFIELD
Construction could begin for walking trails at a proposed facility in Canfield Township in the next few weeks.
It needs water and sewer lines, however, the same need that had held up a proposed Windsor House.
A tentative Canfield community joint economic development district (JEDD) has been offered as a solution for the assisted- living facility, but what about Walnut Grove and the Henry M. Halstead Field of Opportunity?
Last April, the ABC Water and Storm Water District made a presentation to Canfield trustees to bring water to the proposed Windsor House, as well as two other entities. Those two other entities that Jason Loree, head of the ABC Water District, mentioned in April 2014 are South Range schools and Walnut Grove.
In the days after that meeting, South Range schools Superintendent Dennis Dunham said the schools’ water supply was fine.
“Do we have interest in talking and having dialogue about extending waterlines out here? Absolutely. Do we have the ability to pay for that? No,” said Dunham, after Loree’s presentation. “So how much conversation can we have?”
Dunham has reiterated that point this year and noted that when new schools were built, a water-treatment plant had to be constructed to make the well water drinkable and usable. The schools run on two wells, while the board of education office has its own well.
Loree recently said ABC “is not looking into water exploration or waterlines” and “we don’t collect any funding at this point in time for those initiatives.”
He said talks died late last summer with Canfield Township about running waterlines because of the cost. “They didn’t think they had money to do the water-exploration process,” Loree said. “We needed substantial funding from a source.”
WALNUT GROVE
Allen Conti is president of the Walnut Grove, between Buckeye Lawn Service Inc., 8696 Columbiana-Canfield Road, and another property sitting at the intersection of state Route 46 and Western Reserve Road. That is half of the 20-acre site there that will feature walking trails. The front 10 acres will feature the Henry M. Halstead Field of Opportunity with a specials-needs facility for kindergarten through fourth grade and athletic fields and a track that are handicapped-accessible.
Conti said that since last year, the group has been able to get approval and grants from several organizations, such as the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency. That is because the well water is not up to a high enough quality for drinking — why the water and sewer lines are needed — and there are wetlands on the property. That administrative process, as Conti summarized it, took nine months.
“We didn’t want to start just doing things for the sake of doing things, because activity and then no activity” is not what was wanted, Conti said. “We wanted continuity. Once it starts, it starts.”
Walnut Grove, doing business as the Henry M. Halstead Field of Opportunity Inc., was incorporated in November 2012, obtained a special-use permit in January 2013 and then hit hurdles. Conti said there will be a presence by Walnut Grove at today’s public hearing on the JEDD in Canfield Township. It had someone at the city public hearing last week, who did not speak.
Interpretation
“That JEDD initially will cover the Windsor House. However, it’s our counsel’s opinion, and we’ll know better when we see the actual draft and the language of the JEDD district, it should be township- and citywide,” Conti said. “In other words, anything in the township that has the same characteristics should be eligible to fall under that. But that would be an interpretation.”
Canfield Trustee Marie Cartwright and Canfield City Mayor Bernie Kosar Sr. said, however, that the JEDD language requires contiguous land — something that doesn’t apply to Walnut Grove, which is surrounded by township land.
“Contiguous means that they touch,” explained Kosar, further saying the proposed location of the Windsor House has city property, state route right of way on both sides of state Route 446 and then township land.
“It sounds like they are an organization that wants to do good. ... Anybody with a project like this, you’ve got to listen to their proposal. The worst you can say is no,” Kosar said.
Cartwright echoed Kosar in that they can work together after hearing a proposal. “If there’s a way of working it out, I think all parties would sit down and work it out,” Cartwright said. “I’m not sure if it would meet the criteria of a JEDD. ... We would have to go to our legal counsel to advise us on that.”
Conti and the Walnut Grove group plan to make a proposal to both entities in the coming weeks on specifics of the project.
In the meantime, representatives of the Walnut Grove board have been exploring potential satellite locations that could house sensory gyms for a period of one to three years while water and sewer issues are resolved.
Making those satellite locations open — possibly by June or July — would build awareness for the project. There is enough funding to do that for one to three years, Conti said.
ALL PLAY
As the Walnut Grove project has grown, another long-talked about project could tie into the project. All Play was at one time the working name for a proposed playground that would be special-needs accessible, said Amy Whittman. She has two sons with muscular dystrophy, and she began the project when one of her sons was 9 or 10 years old — he is now 19.
“I’ve been working on it for a really long time,” Whittman said. “At first it was because of my boys, but then it was more and more kids that could benefit,” she said, noting she met other special-needs families through special-needs classes at Canfield schools.
One of the people involved with the project was Mark Seiser, a longtime athletic trainer and a special-needs physical therapist at Canfield schools. He died of a heart attack in 2008 at age 54. There aren’t specifics yet on what the playground would include, but Whittman wants ramps to be included.
“It feels like they are included. Even though they couldn’t use their arms or hands they would be at least up there with the rest of the group,” instead of on the ground level, she said.
Whittman’s remarks were echoed by Shari Lewis, South Range schools director of curriculum and director of special education. “What do they do after school? If there is nowhere to go that fits their needs, then they just sit around,” Lewis said. “It’s kind of beyond the school, it’s more social and there’s not a lot of social settings for kids with needs.”
Lewis sits on the Walnut Grove board and said the project really grew legs by a “grass-roots movement” and added members by people knowing others that could help.
Thinking toward when the trails will open and when the satellite locations could open, Lewis reflected: “Once you’ve been there, and your children are happy and productive and meeting other kids ... it’s really going to be something.”