Village of Mantua
Earlier this year, Mantua Village Council realized that it had a fairly sizable bank account and thought it would be good to do a better job investing that money so it could at least be earning ample interest instead of just sitting in the bank with a very low interest rate.
“So we created a new committee called the treasury investment board and tasked it with the responsibility of determining who we need to go through with the state in order to make that happen,” village council President Steve Thorn said. “A piece of legislation we passed two weeks ago was to allow this committee to invest up to a million dollars into a straight treasury asset reserve of Ohio. That’s basically a collective investment organization run by the state and participated in by hundreds of municipalities across the state. We could get a pretty decent return off of that money, which was invested recently.”
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A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Aug. 16 for Next Door General Store, located at 4637 W. Prospect St. behind Restoration 44 Coffee Shop. Terri Vechery and her family have opened the bulk foods store to provide the community with supplies for baking and candy and lots of other wholesome foods. The store is open for business, and its hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Vechery is a longtime resident of the community and always dreamed of opening a store in Mantua, where she was raised. Her father owned his own business, Mantua Lumber Co. on Mill Street where Advanced Rehab is now located, so the entrepreneurial gene runs deep.
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Another ribbon cutting was held Aug. 16 at Ellerhorst Dentistry, located at 10730 Main St. The office is now open and accepting patients.
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There will be a farmers and makers market from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23 at the Granary Building on East Prospect Street.
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The Mantua Farmers Market will continue to be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday through Sept. 21 at Christ Lutheran Church, located at 10827 N. Main St.
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The annual Art on the Hill took place July 13 on South Prospect Street. The event is run by the Downtown Mantua Revitalization Corporation. There were art and craft vendors, a food vendor and wine tasting.
“Even though it rained,” Thorn said, “we had thousands of people show up.”
Hiram Township
Regarding the tornado siren that has not been working on state Route 82, Hiram Fire Chief Bill Byers and his crew were unaware of any reports that that particular siren is not functioning.
“Our sirens are tested every Saturday around 12:30,” Byers said. “In the past, on the rare occasion one does not activate, our residents have always let us know, and we address it. In the past, the state Route 82 siren was out of service for a repair. That repair was completed prior to 2024 once the part arrived.”
All three of the township’s sirens underwent inspection and preventive maintenance July 25. The township contracts and pays for all three sirens to be inspected and for preventive maintenance to be done by a factory-authorized service provider. This work is completed by Federal Field Services.
“No issues were found, no malfunctions or needed repairs were reported to me or Hiram Township,” Byers said. “I have contacted Federal Field Services, and I am waiting for a time frame for a service call, and we will go out on Saturday [Aug. 17] to see what the status of the state Route 82 siren is during our weekly test.”
Village of Hiram
Hiram Village Council did a final read for increasing the fines for zoning violations. Previously, the fines were always up to $100. Now, the fines are up to $500 for a first offense, up to $750 for a second offense and up to $1,000 for a third offense. The new fines will take effect in about three weeks.
“This is all part of us reevaluating all of our zoning in the village,” Mayor Anne Haynam said.
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Last October, village council passed an ordinance to allow pay-to-park in the village in order to restore 24/7 police coverage in the village. This past spring council passed a parking bureau, and then the last step of that is a contract.
“We ended up tabling it because we didn’t have the full legislation,” Haynam said. “We’re in final negotiations with a company to implement the ordinance that was passed last October. It will come back to council Sept. 10.”
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The Friends of the Hiram Parks is fundraising for a sandpit volleyball court to be added to Hadsell Park.
“The pit is already dug,” Haynam said. “We just won’t put the net up until we get the rest of the money.”
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Village council passed an ordinance that recognizes the Hiram Historical Society as the village’s official historical society.
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The rescheduled “Barbie” movie from early May will be shown at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24 on Charles A. Henry Field at Malmisur Stadium on the Hiram College campus. There will be concessions courtesy of the Hiram College golf teams.
Garrettsville
John Kennedy, the county treasurer, spoke to village council at a recent council meeting about what the treasurer’s department does — including the property values that were reevaluated, the property taxes that are going to be raised between 15 to 30% and how to appeal the raising of property taxes through county Auditor Matt Kelly.
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Todd Peetz of the Portage County Regional Planning Commission (PCRPC) spoke at a recent Garrettsville Village Council meeting about what the PCRPC could do for the village.
“One of the things we’re looking at is to list all of the historical homes and structures in Garrettsville on the PCRPC’s website,” Mayor Rick Patrick said. “You’d be able to click on icons for each home or structure and read all about their histories. There would be pictures of what they looked like many years ago and what they look like now.”
Village council is trying to get a grant that would pay for all of the legwork involved in getting this done.
“They have to research what homes and structures fit under that category,” Patrick said. “Then they’d have to get the Portage County Historical Society and the James A. Garfield Historical Society involved.”
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Jeff Kaiser replaced Mark Brady, who passed away last month, as a village council member Aug. 14. Kaiser had been a council member for about 18 years, retired and then decided he would like to return to his position.
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The annual Peach Social Car Cruise was Aug. 10 at the Garrettsville Fire Department. There were fresh peaches, ice cream and peach pie for sale and close to 200 classic cars. Trophies were awarded in several classic car categories. The most important trophy was awarded in memory of Roger Angel, who started the Cruise nights in 1988 and passed away two years ago. The special trophy was awarded to Mark Ellerhorst.
“It was well deserved,” Patrick said, “because it was a 1955 Ford Thunderbird, a very nice car, and because Mark was very good friends with Roger.
“It was probably one of the best Peach Social Car Cruises we’ve ever had.”
The proceeds go to the Garrettsville Area Chamber of Commerce for its special events fund.
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A car show will be held at the Nelson Ledges Race Course from noon to 6 p.m. on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2. The race course is located at 10342 state Rte. 305. The son of the owner of the NAPA store in Garrettsville passed away suddenly last summer, and this car show will raise money for a scholarship in the son’s name to go to an aspiring master auto technician. There will be food vendors (including pulled pork sandwiches), music and raffles. Awards will be given out in several categories for the classic cars.
Freedom
The flag tower in front of Town Hall has been completely restored. Anything that was broken has been replaced, the tower was sanded down with rust prohibitive, and coats of primer were put on it as well as three coats of paint. The tower also got a brand-new flag.
“It looks great,” township Chair Tom Mesaros said.
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The Freedom Road Department will be doing a chip-and-seal on Goodell Road and two other roads at the end of August or the beginning of September.
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The township is expecting delivery of its new excavator at the end of the month.
Village of Windham
The old Farmers National Bank building at the corner of Maple Grove Road and East Center Street is up for sale. The bank was closed recently, and the operations were moved to Mantua.
Windham Township
The Windham Township Trustees are going to get quotes to have some pavement repaired due to a tree uprooting at the Windham Township Cemetery during the April tornado.
“The roots pulled up the asphalt,” township Vice Chair Rich Gano said.
