Richfield Township Board of Trustees
September 18, 2003
Meeting called to order at 7:02 p.m. with the following in attendance:
Laurie Peters Gilmore, Trustee
David Wyatt, Trustee
Laurie Pinney, Clerk
Linda Bowmer, Office Administrator
Four (4) residents/attendees
Ms. Pinney provided the clerk’s report. The Summit County Prosecutor had
forwarded a request to Richfield Township regarding information about the most
recent audit. Former Clerk Mark Uhrich has provided a response to the questions,
which will be incorporated into the township’s official reply. The questions
were in regard to adjustments to procedural accounting issues.
Ms. Bowmer provided the administration report. The township police department
records have been moved out of Town Hall and have been put into storage at the
Richfield Village police department. Applications for the senior snowplow
program are currently being taken.
Ms. Pinney provided the zoning report. The BZA has a continued hearing scheduled
for September 29, 2003, 7:00 p.m. to evaluate a conditional use application and
variance requests for the Ohio Turnpike Commission’s maintenance yard at 3245
Boston Mills Road. The next regular BZA meeting is scheduled for October 20,
2003, 7:00 p.m., with a filing deadline of October 6. The Zoning Commission has
a continued public hearing scheduled for October 9, 2003, 6:30 p.m. to discuss
amendment to sections 301-4-K & 504. The OPC Cleveland Planning and Zoning
Workshop is scheduled for October 30, 2003. All zoning board members have been
invited to attend.
Yolanda Walker, Executive Director of the Summit/Akron Solid Waste Management
Authority made a presentation to the trustees regarding the proposed Solid Waste
Management Plan. The next step in the ratification of the plan is to obtain
support of communities representing at least sixty percent of the population of
Summit County. One goal of the plan is to raise Summit County recycling
participation from the current 83% to the 90% goal. Communities under 20,000 in
population will receive support in the form of grant funding for curbside
recycling or other similar programs. Monies to fund the plan will be obtained by
raising the generation fee, which is currently $2.75 per ton to $5.00 per ton.
Ms. Walker provided a complete breakdown of where the fees will go, as well as
other details of the plan. A copy of the plan has been provided to the township
and is available for review during regular business hours. The deadline to
provide township legislation supporting the plan is October 13, 2002.
Tom Sadar, of 5044 W. Streetsboro Road, brought up the issue of the generation
fee being passed along to the resident and thought it might motivate some people
who do not currently recycle to begin doing so.
Rich Fleming, of 2780 Columbia Road had questions about where Richfield Township
solid waste has been taken in the past, and whether the City of Akron or any
other municipality had received income from the Hardy Road landfill operation.
If so, why should other residents be asked to bear the burden of the cost of
closure and maintenance?
Following questions and discussion by the trustees, it was decided that a
decision would be made at the next meeting, scheduled for October 2, 2003, 7:00
p.m., so that the entire board could discuss the proposed plan and possible
Richfield Township support.
Ms. Gilmore provided the road report. Bids had been requested for motor paving
for Kiowa, Chickasaw, Inca & Dakota Roads. Lytle Construction, who also did
recent paving work in Furnace Run, was the low bidder. Motion was made by Ms.
Gilmore and seconded by Mr. Wyatt to award the bid in the amount of $47,270.16
to Lytle construction, and received unanimous support of those in attendance.
Tom Sader questioned the total length of the four roads and commented that the
bid price seemed to be very reasonable.
Ms. Gilmore gave an update to the gas aggregation issue. Information on gas
providers and costs will be published on the township website. Richfield
Township is enrolled in the gas aggregation program and residents can
participate. Richfield Village opted out of aggregation and village residents
are not eligible for enrollment.
Ms. Gilmore addressed the need for senior snowplow program applicants to provide
proof of income. Because funding is provided through a federal grant, there is
an income requirement for participation in the program.
Ms. Gilmore stated that there had been a joint meeting with Richfield Village’s
recreation department and council members last week. A survey had been sent out
last year to get resident’s opinions on what features they would want for a
recreation center.
Tom Sadar questioned the results of last year’s survey. His recollection was
that Bath residents were generally not supportive of a joint recreation center,
but that both Richfield Township and Richfield Village residents were generally
in favor of a joint recreation center.
Ms. Gilmore confirmed that the outcome of the survey was in favor of the
township and village having a joint recreation center, and that is the direction
that is being taken in the planning.
Frank Gindraw, of 4280 Oviatt Road, asked who is representing Richfield Township
in decision-making for recreation projects?
Ms. Gilmore replied that discussion has been informal so far, but the township
may be interested in forming a parks and recreation board to look at the issues.
Motion to adjourn made at 7:50 p.m. by Ms. Gilmore, seconded by Mr. Wyatt and
received unanimous support of those in attendance.
_______________________ _________________________
Chairwoman Clerk
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Last updated: 02/25/2006