Sunday, October 18, 2015
Mill Creek commissioners volunteer service to park
This is a response to Joan DeApolito-Toth’s letter to the editor regarding money for Mill Creek Park that she believes would be better spent to fight crime.
We can all agree that fighting crime is an important priority in this country. With this being said, I would like to correct the writer’s interpretation of what is going on in the park.
First of all, the city of Youngs-town has agreed with the Environmental Protection Agency that our sewer systems are polluting our park lakes, and it has given the city several years to remedy the problem. This remedial measure will cost millions of dollars and take several years. In all likelihood, eventually these costs will be passed onto the water users of the city.
In an effort to lessen this burden and help clean up our lakes sooner, my son, who is our state senator, has proposed a resolution to sell bonds for capital improvements and sewer-infrastructure improvements. This resolution, if passed by the voters, could generate significant funds to help with this project and other sewer-system projects all over the state. This money would not increase local water fees. It is my understanding that our U.S. senator, Sherrod Brown, also has proposed a similar bill at the federal level.
These issues are real problems that affect the daily lives of everyone in our Valley and should be a priority.
I would also like to correct Ms. DeApolito-Toth’s interpretation of the park commissioner’s salaries. We receive absolutely nothing by way of salaries. Our efforts are all volunteered. I have undertaken this position because I grew up next to the park, enjoyed it as a child, and hope to keep it an enjoyable experience for all.
Atty. Louis Schiavoni, Austintown
Atty. Louis Schiavoni is president of the Board of Mill Creek MetroParks Commissioners.
Trumbull senior levy helps thousands, merits renewal
The Trumbull County Senior Levy again needs your support. This 5-year, 0.75-mill property tax levy, which began in 2005, was renewed in 2010 and is up for renewal again. It is not a new or additional tax. This levy funds programs to help keep seniors safe, healthy and mobile.
The average homeowner in Trumbull County pays $1.91 a month to help provide services to our seniors. These services include adult day care, chore services, home-delivered meals, personal care/homemaker, protective services, transportation, and funding for senior centers.
I am a regular at the Girard Multi-Generational Center. I am here every day to help my friends and neighbors start their day right with coffee, camaraderie and mind exercises during coffee bar. This gives me the opportunity to see and hear first-hand how the senior- levy dollars help people in our community daily.
People come to the center for a variety of reasons. Some people come to have someone to talk to, some people come for help with their prescriptions or Medicare or taxes, some people come to exercise, some people come to learn new things, some come for health screenings, some come for a nutritious dinner, and some come to learn how to use their computers, tablets or smartphones so they can stay in touch with their children and grandchildren.
One gentleman was paying about $1,300 a month for his prescriptions. It took a little bit of time, but after a couple of months, the social worker was able to cut his prescription costs to $16 a month. Another gentleman in his 80s who was recovering from surgery hit his insurance limit for rehab, and he would have to pay $50 a session to continue. Instead he came to the center to exercise for free.
There are thousands of these stories about how the center has made a difference in the lives of our friends and neighbors. Without funding from the senior levy, the center and those stories would not exist. The Trumbull County Senior Levy does help people remain safe, active and as independent as possible. When you exercise your right to vote, please say “yes” to senior services.
Shirley Martin, Girard
Poland needs its ash trees to retain forest’s integrity
The proposed re- moval of dead ash trees from the Poland Municipal Forest has sparked a vigorous debate about forest safety and management. During a public discussion, hosted by the Poland Village Council, it was stated that “the woods are for the people, not the bugs,” (Vindicator, Aug 5, 2015) and that ecology is hampering proper cleanup and management. However, without “bugs,” there would be no forest. Without ecology, we would not know the importance of “bugs” for sustaining the forest
The PMF, as all life on Earth, exists only as a system. The “bugs” are an integral part of that system. They decompose dead materials releasing nutrients that nourish the forest plants. They are food for larger, more visible, and cherished creatures. Without “bugs,” the forest would go silent, the birds and frogs would starve and disappear. Dead material would accumulate on the forest floor, nutrient supply would diminish, trees and other plants would grow more slowly, then not at all.
If not for the “bugs”, the forest would be gone. Management for the “bugs” is indeed management for people.
Ecology is the study of living systems; the interactions of plants, animals and their environment. It is ecology that discovered that life exists on earth only as a complex system whose interactions, often subtle, provide checks and balances that are essential for sustainable ecosystems.
The Poland Municipal Forest is a fragment of the sustainable forest that once covered eastern North America. It is an island, in a sea of urban development, where life is sustainable.
The dead ash trees in the PMF are an integral part of that forest system; their removal will diminish the forest, reduce its sustainability, and compromise its value as an object lesson for managing human ecosystems. Their removal will diminish the historical and legacy value of this magnificent forest. Cutting dead ash trees will infringe on Grace Butler’s intentions that the forest be “kept and preserved in its natural state so far as possible”.
The dead ash trees pose minimal risk for injury, but their removal levies a large cost in the forest’s integrity and value.
Lauren Schroeder, Poland