| Deerfield Township Trustees | |
| MEETING MINUTES | |
| Date: | July 14th 2025 |
| Time: | 6:00 PM |
| Location: | Deerfield Township Hall |
In attendance
Trustees: Charles “Ed” Dean, Tiffany Havens (Chair), Laura Lindberg
Fiscal Officer: Tracey Dean
Assistant Fiscal Officer: Nancy Cowan
Fire: Captain Bardelli
Special Guests: Dave Mcintyre, Portage County Dog Warden
call to order
- Tiffany Havens called the meeting to order at 6:01. The Pledge of Allegiance began the meeting.
Approval of minutes/Reports
- April minutes corrections: Tiffany made a motion to approve (seconded, passed unanimously).
- May minutes corrections: a motion was made to accept (seconded, passed unanimously).
- June minutes and financials: tabled until next meeting to allow time to read.
COMMUNICATIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
- On June 14, the trustees attended a township conference/meeting put on by the prosecutor’s office. A lot of good legal information was obtained. Prosecuting attorney Connie Lewandowski said that they are interested in opening cold cases, including the ones from Fewtown Rd. It’s good to know that these are still being investigated. Trustees reiterated that meeting announcements are now to be posted on the e-bulletin board at the circle and the website (no longer in the newspaper). Also, there is no longer a requirement to take a vote to return to regular meeting after executive session.
- We received a letter from the Auditor’s office about a routine audit we need to complete for 2023 and 2024.
- Matt Kelly wrote that he will be completing a walkathon to include 18 townships and 4 largest cities in Portage County for awareness of veterans’ high suicide rate (the total of 22 locations is symbolic of the fact that 22 veterans died by suicide each day). He will be reaching Deerfield soon and invites people to walk with him and help spread awareness (he’s also asking for suggestions about where to walk). The letter included grim statistics. The towpath, the Legion, and the sidewalk area east of 224 were discussed as possible locations. We will get back to him.
- Ohio 811 contacted us to say they marked underground cables and gas lines. (They are who we call when we clean ditches or install culverts, etc.) We borrowed money from the US dept. of Agriculture to build this building, with the stipulation that we join Ohio 811. We are a limited base member but can opt to join as a regular member at no cost. Email notifications are 47 cents each with regular membership compared to $1.34 each that we pay now. Ed made a motion to complete paperwork to become a regular/voting member. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
GUEST SPEAKER
Dave Mcintyre, Portage County Dog Warden: Our county is bound only by the Ohio Revised Code. The Dog Warden only deals with licensing, and problematic dogs (stray/running, dangerous, vicious, nuisance). The humane officer deals with issues of abuse/neglect. Barking dogs would fall under Portage County noise ordinances.
There are about 30 dogs in the kennel currently; many are up for adoption; adoptees are viewable on the website (total dogs per year is 380-400, with peak intake over the July 4 holiday). Pitt Bulls are not adopted into homes with children. Euthanizing is low, at around 7%, and only occurs because the dogs are very sick or vicious. Dogs receive medical care, and every adopted dog is fixed. Adoptions are $97 and include licensing, vaccinations, testing for diseases, and spay/neutering (this fee is supplemented by grant money and donations). You have a right to protect your property, including all animals. In case of complaints, the warden’s office is 20-25 minutes away. While you’re waiting, take photos/video to document the case. Often, you can ask them to (a) talk to the neighbor or (b) issue a citation, where you would need to come to court. Dogs must be licensed whether indoors or outdoors. If your dog runs loose and is picked up by the warden, you are typically NOT cited. Stray hold policy: If licensed (not microchipped), a certified letter is sent to the owner, and the hold is 14 days. Unlicensed dogs may be adopted after 72 hours. Microchips can offer some information, but they don’t prove ownership, and they must be updated regularly. The Sherriff’s office also has some dog facilities and works hand in hand with the Warden’s office.
If you would like to donate to the Dog Warden’s office, cash, plastic bags, blankets, cleaning supplies (esp. bleach and dawn dish soap) are welcome.
PUBLIC COMMENTARY
- Denise Adams, in response to a request for pickleball court(s), asked if we were still working on grants for playground equipment. Trustees said that nothing is in the works now but there will be an opportunity coming up for public park grants.
DEPARTMENT UPDATES
Road Department/Maintenance (Tiffany on behalf of Tim Suderman)
Road Department
- We replaced three road culverts.
- We cleared a few ditches in trouble spots; we’ll be clearing additional ditches and doing patchwork, starting with the chip and seal road list.
- Laffite Blvd., Blue Beard Ct., Treasure Blvd., Wagner Rd. from Johnson to dead end.
- (Ed) Rayland’s Tree Service will be attending to two trees leaning on wires on Treasure Blvd.
- About 120 tires were discarded at the tire drop off event. The weekday schedule may have hurt participation.
Buildings and Grounds
- The white building at the cemetery is complete.
- The well at the fire department Is complete.
- The AED battery at Town Hall has been replaced.
- (Ed) Rayland’s will be doing tree service at the cemeteries possibly next week depending on rain.
Cemeteries
- There was one full burial since the last meeting.
- Tree service is running behind but will be there in the next few weeks to trim out the trees on the list.
Fire Department
- Tanker 14 is going into Springer’s for a brake chamber.
- (Captain Bardelli) The Pearl Road fire report shows that a call was sent at 11:38 and at 11:41 we had an engine on the road. At 11:51 we were on the scene. The homeowner also called at 11:51 and said that the roof was caving in. At 11:51 we also had our tanker on the road.
- We had an application for membership to the fire department from Nicole Smith. Ed made a motion to accept her application, pending results from the physical. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
- Tanker 14 is going to the spray chamber tomorrow.
- Ed made a motion for Brush 14 to go to Springer’s for an ongoing issue with a sticking brake caliper (seconded, passed unanimously).
- Monitor batteries were previously approved for the life pack. They are about $1,000 each and we need four. We will see if we have an account with the vendor.
- We need a piercing nozzle at about $575, and we need two hydrant wrenches at about $30-40 each. Tiffany made a motion to purchase the $500 piercing nozzle and up to $100 for two wrenches (from Matt’s mobile tools) (seconded and passed unanimously).
- In June we had someone on the schedule 24hrs a day for the whole month.
- June calls were 26 EMS, 5 fire, 2 service, and 4 MVA (37 total). We gave mutual aid five times and received mutual aid nine times (eight for a driver and 1 for squad because we were on another service call.
- Ed stated that regarding the building permit for the addition, nothing is on paper. We will decide tonight whether we will go forward on the addition and to prepare a bid package. Interested contractors will need to contact the building department for PDF plans. The blueprints (including specifications) are approved. We would advertise on our website and at the direction of the building department. Ed made a motion to move forward with the bidding process for the new addition (seconded and approved unanimously). Ed will email the building department (and CC the other trustees) to move forward.
OLD BUSINESS
- (Ed) We need to set a date for the Lindsay Davis hearing. Her attorney contacted ours saying she is not going to resign so we need to reset the date, which can be whenever we want. What we agreed to in executive session didn’t happen. It was decided that the hearing will occur at the regular meeting in August (will need to appear on the digital billboard/Ed and the website/Tiffany). Tiffany made a motion to set the date for August 11 at 6pm pending all parties’ availability (seconded and passed unanimously).
NEW BUSINESS
- (Tiffany) Tracey has asked for a resolution about our 2026 estimated budget. Tracey said the budget has no notable changes. Tiffany moved to create a resolution (# 2025-2) to approve the 2026 estimated budget presented by the fiscal officer Tracey Dean and submitted to the Portage County Auditor. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
- Tiffany asked whether a phone call about a payroll issue was resolved (yes, Tracey said that the employee had a misunderstanding).
- An audience member asked whether the gas station issue was dead. Ed said no, ODOT is doing a traffic study right now, but they only want to allow one entrance with all exits to the west; they don’t want to allow anyone to exit onto the circle. There is an appeal to ODOT to reconsider that decision. The interested party has over $450,000 invested in the property and the issue is very much alive.
- (Tiffany) There is a “coffee with the commissioners” event this month at Café 14 on the 31st from 9-10am. Coffee and pastries are furnished.
- There was a suggestion from an attendee that the township label any dry hydrants in the township. Ed asked if the person commenting would like to suggest specifications at the next meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and passed at 6:58pm.
______________________________ ______________________________
Tiffany Havens Ed Dean
Trustee/Chair Trustee
______________________________ ______________________________
Laura Lindberg Tracey Dean
Trustee Fiscal Officer
Minutes respectfully submitted by Cary Wecht
Cary Wecht