By Jordyn Grzelewski

jgrzelewski@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

The final hearing on a proposed zone change for a Meijer store looking to locate in the township will take place at 4 p.m. July 23.

Trustees set that meeting date and approved another 30-day continuance on the zone change at their meeting Monday.

This marked the second 30-day continuance requested by Carnegie Management and Development Corp., which is developing the project on behalf of the Meijer supercenter chain.

The proposal is to rezone a small section of the proposed project site near the intersection of Lockwood Boulevard and U.S. Route 224. Some of the site, 13 acres, already is zoned commercial, but the company wants to rezone 4 of 39 acres from residential to commercial. The company wants to develop on 17 acres, then add to a conservation easement that would total 22 acres under its plan.

Some residents have raised concerns about traffic, water management and green space, and the township zoning commission rejected the zone change request. Trustees could overturn that ruling, however.

The developer has said Meijer would spend between $20 million and $25 million on construction and employ more than 250 people.

In other development news, Krista Beniston, township Zoning & Development director, told trustees construction is underway on a three-tenant plaza at 700 Boardman-Poland Road. One tenant will be a FedEx, and the others have not yet been announced.

She said her office also has received a proposal for a coffee shop looking to locate on a site in front of the former Kmart property on U.S. Route 224, and another three-tenant plaza is looking at a site there, too.

Trustees also opened bids for the 2018 joint road resurfacing program the township has done with Austintown and Canfield for the last several years.

The communities received five bids, the lowest of which, at a total of $996,010, was from Shelly & Sands. An award has not yet been made.

The board also authorized the police department to sell old radios and radio-related equipment on a government auction site; awarded the 2018 crack-sealing contract to PS Construction Fabrics of Wadsworth for $88,512.30; and accepted a $17,500 grant from Mahoning County commissioners that will pay for demolition and asbestos abatement for structures at 111 Forest Park Drive and 239 Meadowbrook Ave.

The two structures, which are vacant, have been condemned, and the trustees approved resolutions Monday declaring them nuisances. The owners will get 30-day notices on the planned demolitions.

The board also took the first step in the process to install a traffic signal at Maple Avenue and Southern Boulevard by adopting a resolution authorizing the trustees to enter into an agreement with county commissioners, the state and the Ohio Rail Commission.