Bath trustees seek to establish state historic district
in Bath
By Anne Dennée
BATH — In a move designed to thwart future threats to the “historically rural residential community atmosphere” of the township, the Bath Township Board of Trustees is seeking to establish Hammond’s Corner — and eventually other hamlets along Cleveland-Massillon Road — as a state-registered historic district.
At a May 7 trustees’ meeting, the board approved a resolution creating a Historic District Committee. The committee will work to establish a historic district as well as a zoning overlay for historic districts in the township. The overlay would include requirements that construction and development projects undergo review, recommendations and approval by the township’s zoning committees and trustees.
The push for establishing a historic district, an idea discussed in the past but not acted upon, was prompted by the recent controversy over the proposed construction of a 130-foot cell phone transmission tower at 1911 N. Cleveland-Massillon Road. The tower has generated strong opposition from local residents who cite aesthetic and health concerns.
Bath officials are opposed
to the tower, too, but have no power to stop it since
it will be located in a Commercially zoned area. Trustees
feel the creation of a historic district would help
protect the historic character of the area. However,
board President Elaina Goodrich said the process will
take one to two years to complete, so it will probably
not have any effect on the current cell tower controversy.
Members of the Historic District
Committee are: Jeff Andrew, Libby Bauman, Dick Bradner,
Monica Bunner, MaryEllen Burnham, Michael Francus, Carol
Franklin, Tim Franklin, Nancy Diller-Shively, Patti
Graham, Bruce McMakin, Holly Mineard, John Sahl and
Paul Schubert. Bath Zoning Administrator William Funk
will serve as chairman, and Goodrich will be the trustee
liaison.
Also at the meeting, the board
passed a resolution stating its official opposition
to the tower “on the grounds that it is inconsistent
with the preservation of the historical scenic environment.”
Trustees will send copies of the resolution to T-Mobile,
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), U.S. Rep.
Betty Sutton (D-District 13), state Rep. Brian Williams
(D-District 41) and state Sen. Kevin Coughlin (R-District
27).
In personnel items, Township Administrator
William Snow reported that Bath Police Lt. Richard Munsey
was reassigned to the patrol unit after an incident
in which he refused to follow instructions given by
Police Chief Michael McNeely. Munsey, a long-time Bath
officer, had been working as the head of the detective
bureau.
Snow commented that a few years
ago, Munsey was offered the position of police
chief when the job was available, but he declined.
“There have been some disagreements
between Munsey and the chief over changes the chief
has made,” said Snow, who noted that it is often
difficult for someone who has been working somewhere
for a long time to deal with a new supervisor who comes
in and starts making changes.
Prior to the meeting, McNeely
said Munsey’s reassignment was not a demotion.
“It will make the department
more operationally efficient,” said McNeely, who
was hired as chief in December 2004.
Munsey was contacted for comment
but did not respond by presstime.
In other personnel items, the
board accepted the resignation for retirement from police
Lt. Michael Zorena, effective June 30. Zorena, who has
worked for Bath for nearly 30 years, will return to
work as a part-time officer in August. The township
will post internally for the position of full-time police
officer from June 1 to June 15.
In other news, Snow reported the
one-day household hazardous waste collection day on
May 5 was successful, with 152 cars from Bath participating.
The event was held in conjunction with the city of Fairlawn.
Snow said Project Pride, a community
clean-up day that took place April 28, also
was very successful, with about 600 residents pitching
in.
“A lot of people care about
this community,” said Snow.
Parks Administrator Michael Rorar
thanked Bruce Robinson, Rosalie Steiner and the other
members of the Yellow Creek Watershed Committee for
planting more than 90 sycamore trees along the west
bank of the North Fork Tributary in the Bath Nature
Preserve.
Rorar also commended the committee
for its work in hosting Earth Day activities in the
township, including a tree giveaway that distributed
about 4,000 trees.
The board also approved motions
to retain Bertolini Trucking Co. to conduct an emergency
replacement of a culvert across Orchard Drive for $7,050
and to pay $17,650 to Bertolini Trucking Co. for a completed
storm sewer installation project on McVey Drive.
At the beginning of the meeting,
Lydia Wochna, fire prevention officer for the Bath and
Richfield fire departments, provided an overview of
the fire safety program she presents to local students
on a monthly basis. Wochna, who was hired in January
2007, was accompanied by her dog Kodak, who has been
trained to demonstrate fire-safe behavior for students.
During the public comments section
of the meeting, Bath resident Tim Godard questioned
the township’s policy of charging
fees to residents who use Bath’s equestrian trails.
Rorar responded that use of the
equestrian trail is free, but that the fee the township
charges is for parking.
Rorar and Goodrich explained that
the annual parking fee ($25 for residents, $50 for nonresidents)
is Bath’s way to recoup some of the expenses associated
with upkeep of the trails, in the same way baseball
teams and other regular users of park amenities are
charged fees.
Calendar items include:
• May 12: wildflower walk
at 9 a.m. at the Bath Nature Preserve;
• Mid-May: frog call walk,
dusk at the Bath Nature Preserve, more information available
at www3.uakron.edu/ biology/fieldstation;
and
• May 28: Memorial Day Observance,
Bath Memorial Park, noon, featuring a memorial address
by former Richfield police chief John Walsh.
Also May 28, the Bath Township
Museum will be open from 12:30 to 4 p.m. to present
its current exhibit, Life
in the Ohio & Erie Canalway, and
Bath Center Cemetery will offer a tour of veterans’
grave markers at 1:30 p.m.
The next Bath Township Board of
Trustees meeting is scheduled for May 21 at 4 p.m. at
the Administration Complex, 3864 W. Bath Road.
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