The Junior Girl Scouts in Sharon Township’s Troop No. 140 learned some unfortunate life lessons through a gardening project, the Sharon Township Board of Trustees heard at the June 9 meeting.

Troop leader Missy Schreiner said 26 girls, who will be entering fifth grade this fall, have been working on their Bronze Award, an honor earned by demonstrating leadership and planning by carrying out a community project.

Six weeks ago, the Scouts began seeding plants at home, said Schreiner.

Those sprouts were put into the ground by the girls June 6 in three raised, 6-by-4-foot beds in a garden behind Sharon Elementary School, she said.

Schreiner told trustees that volunteers assigned to water plants June 7 discovered overturned benches, smashed birdhouses, toppled mosaic art pillars, destroyed signs and compost bins and uprooted annuals.

Everything the Scouts had planted the previous day was unsalvageable, she said.

The plan was to donate full-grown fruits and vegetables to a local charity center, which still will happen, said Schreiner, due to donations of new seedlings from other area growers.

“The outpouring has been wonderful,” she said.

“We rallied,” added Schreiner, telling trustees the vandalism was reported to police, the area has been cleaned up, and plans are in place for the garden to be replanted.

Residents offered several suggestions to prevent future incidents at the garden site, including adding motion sensors, installing surveillance cameras and the possibility of providing a reward for any information leading to the arrest of vandals.

The garden is currently equipped with security lights that remain on all night, said Schreiner, but part of the problem is the garden is located in such a secluded area behind the school that it can’t be patrolled easily by law enforcement vehicles. 

Also at the meeting:

• Resident Kathy Dearth asked trustees if they ever found out what went wrong with a fund-raiser held by the Sharon Heritage Society two years ago. Dearth said the society sold inscribed bricks to be placed in the sidewalk at Sharon Circle, but several never made it there. 

Trustee Ray Lurtz said he is working on resolving the matter.

• Trustee Kimberly Bolas Miller said trustees haven’t sealed any deals yet with Velotta Co., a construction firm asking to store equipment on a piece of township-owned property next to Sharon Community Park. 

Lurtz said that Velotta is proposing to build a wooden bridge that would provide access from the back of the park’s property to 23 acres of adjacent land the township owns, which would skirt the potential equipment storage area.

• Following an executive session, trustees announced they will present an offer of employment to Sharon Fox for a cleaning position at the Administration Building, at a pay rate of $9.50 an hour, not to exceed 1,495 hours per year.

• Trustees passed a motion to switch carriers for medical benefits for township employees. Fiscal Officer Michael George said the new Anthem Blue Cross plan will offer very similar benefits to what they have been receiving but represent an $8,000 annual premium savings.

• Zoning Inspector Neil Jones told trustees he is expecting to soon receive plans from Louis Perry Architects for a 15,000-square-foot addition to the University Hospitals (formerly Sharon Family Physicians) building at state routes 18 and 94.  Jones said this is an exciting expansion, since it will create a number of new jobs in the township.

• The Zoning Commission will meet June 18 to discuss the results of the recent community survey, Jones said.

• Jones also reported he has begun inspection of an alleged business operating in a residential area on South Medina Line Road in response to a number of complaints from neighbors.

The property owner claims he helps build all-terrain vehicles for his two children who race competitively, and it is a hobby, not a business, Jones told trustees. Jones said that he will make a full report of his findings to trustees once he completes his investigation.

“If we determine it’s an illegal business, he will be cited,” said Jones.

• Fire Department Capt. Dennis Miller reported there were 22 EMS and eight fire calls last month.

• Miller also said that one of the station’s gas monitors, a handheld device that measures carbon monoxide and other dangerous gas levels, is currently out of service. The department has one other working monitor, he said, so they won’t be immediately proposing that the trustees approve the cost for a replacement, which could exceed $6,000. 

Bolas Miller asked the captain to prepare quotes for the trustees, however, for the sake of discussion.

The next Sharon Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for June 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Township Administration Building on Sharon Circle.