Residents: ODOT removed tree barrier

By Justin Dennis

jdennis@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

Residents whose homes are totally exposed to state Route 11 after a recent state project removed several trees learned their area might not qualify for sound barrier construction.

“[The trees are] the only barrier I have from my house to Route 11. My backyard is Route 11 now. … It changed everything where I’m living,” Angel Rodrigo of Penny Lane Court told township trustees during a Monday afternoon meeting.

Rodrigo said Ohio Department of Transportation workers told him the tree removal was in response to concerns about drainage in the area – though both Rodrigo and trustees said they haven’t heard those complaints before.

Darren Crivelli, township zoning inspector, said he’s reviewed ODOT criteria for sound barrier construction and learned several areas wouldn’t qualify since they were built after Route 11 was laid. One qualifying area would be along South Inglewood Avenue, between Mahoning Avenue and Willow Crest Drive, but any wall would stop too far north of Penny Lane Court.

“Penny Lane – there’s not enough properties to spread out the cost of the wall,” he said.

Trustee Ken Carano met with Rodrigo and another Penny Lane resident after the meeting.

In other business, police Chief Bob Gavalier said his agency received a complaint about a solicitor from Houston-based Direct Energy doing door-to-door canvassing residents to sign them up for utility services while claiming they represented the township.

Crivelli said he learned that person’s solicitation license actually expired last week. Carano reminded residents though the township does offer its own utility consortium, it doesn’t solicit door to door.

“If they say they’re representing us, then call us because we’ll throw them out of Austintown,” Crivelli said.