County won't restore Kinsman Lake, engineer tells residents

KINSMAN

A prepared list of questions Trumbull County Engineer Randy Smith answered Thursday night at an overflow meeting at the Kinsman Township Hall included one asking “What is the plan to restore our way of life as it was?”

Smith had to admit there was no way he could promise that the life of the 20 or so families in the Lakelands neighborhood will return to the way it was before a July 20 washout of part of the Kinsman Lake Causeway.

The washout, which occurred during a huge rain event, made it nearly impossible for Lakelands residents to get in or out of their neighborhood, though most have since returned to living in their homes by traveling through wooded areas.

Smith said he cannot not help them get their lakeside community back by restoring Kinsman Lake. An Aug. 1 legal opinion indicated that government money cannot be used to restore the lake because government money cannot be used to benefit private property.

Read more about the situation in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.