43
Good Morning Austintown updates community on progress
By Justin Wier
AUSTINTOWN
Local business leaders and township stakeholders joined the early crowd at Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course on Friday to receive updates on the community over breakfast.
The Good Morning, Austintown event was organized by the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.
Township Trustee Jim Davis provided updates on the township, and schools Superintendent Vince Colaluca offered updates on the schools.
Davis drew attention to a lot of grants the township has received in the past. He also noted that the township was able to help when Mahoning County looked at reducing 911 systems. Austintown partnered with Boardman to help maintain services.
“Austintown was very fortunate that we had the radio system to do it with the support of those communities,” Davis said.
Davis also talked about plans for a new Sheetz and an expansion at Austinwoods Nursing Home that will add 1,300 square feet.
Colaluca began by saying that Meijer had purchased the old Austintown Middle School with plans to demolish it. The building had been a source of complaints in the community.
“You can finally call the township with your problems because we no longer own the building,” Colaluca joked.
He also briefly reviewed Wednesday night’s presentation on the school’s open-enrollment policy.
Colaluca recognized Tascin Brooks, the school’s food-service director, and Kelly Mills, the elementary school counselor. Brooks was selected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to attend a weeklong seminar, and Mills recently took a trip to the White House to represent Ohio’s school counselors and meet former first lady Michelle Obama. She said that took her a bit out of her comfort zone.
“In education it’s not glamorous,” she said. “We don’t do it for the fame, and we definitely don’t do it for the money.”
Finally, Jim Kinnick, executive director of the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, provided updates on some road projects. He said $1.9 million had been secured to improve the intersection of state Route 46 and Mahoning Avenue by adding turning lanes and changing signal times. The organization also helped secure $3.4 million to widen Route 46 from Interstate 80 to County Line Road. He expects both projects to be done in about two years.