Replacing the deteriorating brick surface on the pillars at the entrance to Overlook Cemetery on Tavern Road will use up Parkman Township’s American Rescue Plan Act funds, said Trustee Joyce Peters.
Replacing the deteriorating brick surface on the pillars at the entrance to Overlook Cemetery on Tavern Road will use up Parkman Township’s American Rescue Plan Act funds, said Trustee Joyce Peters.
Trustees approved a resolution to encumber $17,439 during the Dec. 3 meeting, less than a month before the federal deadline to use it or lose it by the end of 2024.
The cemetery project needs to be completed by the end of 2025.
Cost of the brick work on the pillars is $19,950, she said, noting the township will also use an Ohio Department of Commerce cemetery grant of $2,500 for the project, which qualified for the ARPA funds as “government services,” Peters said.
The unanimous approval of the resolution pleased her.
“Yay – the ARPA money is finally all spent. We don’t have to think about it any more,” Peters said.
Townships and municipalities received generous funding from the ARPA to help them recover from the COVID-19 public health emergency, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury website. The act allocated $350 billion across the country for support of all levels of governments. It included restrictions on how the funds may be spent.
The trustees also approved a contract with A&A Masonry of Middlefield for the cemetery project.
Additional costs may be incurred once the project is started, said Trustee Lance Portman.
“A&A will take the arch down, then see what’s in it. We don’t know what’s inside or if the footers are okay,” he said, noting the pillars may be hollow. “We won’t know how much it will cost until they see what’s there. The $19,000 is to redo the face of the brick up both columns. It might be more.”
Lawsuit Court Date Postponed
In other township business, Peters noted the search for records regarding the 2018 sale of township land at the intersection of Main Market and McCall roads has been unproductive.
She asked Fiscal Officer Denise Villars for any progress in finding records of the 2018 sale for $20,000 by the previous board of trustees.
“I can’t find them,” Villars said, adding she texted then-Fiscal Officer Nina Reed for directions to find the records.
“They weren’t where she said they would be,” Villars said.
BTE Properties LLC, of Middlefield, is hoping to get title to a little over 2.6 acres in the middle of Parkman Township to add to the adjacent 4.46 acres the company owns on Nelson Road just south of Main Market.
Because about half an acre of the smaller parcel next to the town’s square has a deed restriction placed by the original owners, construction on the entire 2.6 acres is prohibited.
ALL Inc., owner of the Gulf station across the street, filed a motion to intervene that includes the township, claiming BTW intends to build a Sheetz station and convenience store on the two parcels, violating the deed restriction.
BTE then filed a complaint against ALL and named the township in it. BTE claimed the restrictions serve no purpose, township attorney Todd Petersen said in July.
The 2018 sale is documented in the township trustees meeting minutes, but last Wednesday, Peters said in a phone interview it is unclear if the vote was just a motion or as a resolution.
In addition, she said the minutes are not enough for legal purposes and the township has been tasked with finding further documentation proving the existence of a final agreement.
“The search has been completed twice and we are still unable to find the documents,” she said.
Geauga County Court of Common Pleas Judge David Ondrey set a date of Dec. 19 and 20 for depositions to be taken on the case, but ALL filed to extend that deadline 60 days because ALL needs more documents from ABC, which “have been outstanding for months,” according to court records.
