Trustees Corner – Paul Schweikert

This spring, police officer Ryan Shelby responded to a call about missing mail. Several residents on Brandywine Road were having their mail stolen. The thief lived in Northfield Center Township. He was going to mailboxes with the flags up and stealing checks. During Shelby’s investigation, he found that this had been happening over the Nordonia geographic area.

Shelby contacted Lt. Det. Dan Rice for an assist. Rice had arrested a mail thief three or four years ago. The thief was trying to cash stolen checks. It turned out that this man was now out of jail and was up to his old tricks. Police Chief David Hayes stated that Shelby and Rice were able to review bank video, which confirmed it was the same guy. He was arrested and the case was stamped solved. Shelby was happy to “return this thief to sender” when he was transported back to Summit County jail.

Fire

I shared a cup of coffee with Fire Chief Brian Ripley as he discussed his latest endeavor. The fire district and the Northfield Water District are trying to get all fire hydrants painted before winter. The best part of this project is that they have tested every hydrant for water pressure. Ripley is extremely pleased with this herculean task, as over 3,000 hydrants were working and passed inspection.

Roads

When it rains, it pours. Just after much needed rain this June, the service department was going to take the Sagamore Hills roadside tractor out to mow ditches. After 35 years, it finally refused to run. To purchase a new tractor with the state of Ohio purchasing price, the cost will be about $112,000. This may be the first piece of equipment Sagamore Hills will have to lease-purchase.

During this year’s road projects I received several complaints about vegetation on roadside landscaping being disrupted or not restored to homeowner satisfaction. Anything in the road right-of-way is subject to damage by any utilities. This includes Cleveland Water and Summit County Department of Environmental Services (sewers). Sagamore Hills Township cannot mandate restoration of right-of-way to a homeowner’s satisfaction. Utilities are protected and absolved by state law.

Health department

There are 30 communities that support the Summit County Health District. Donna Skoda is the health commissioner and she sends out yearly assessments based on property valuations. The top three communities are as follows: Cuyahoga Falls, which pays the top assessment at $337,000; Hudson is second with $332,000; Stow comes in at third place with $283,000. Sagamore Hills Township is 13th on the list at $103,000. The total health department budget for 2023 is $3,230,675. The health department encourages residents not to feed wildlife, many animals carry rabies.

Final thought: if you see an opossum, please leave it alone. They may be scary to look at, but they eat ticks and they cannot get rabies.

Any questions call 330-467-4970.

Go Browns! ∞