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Soil concerns raised over new town hall
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - January 21, 2010)
Soil concerns raised over new town hall
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Munson Township Trustees are making a final check on their building site before moving ahead with submitting plans to Geauga County for approval.
Trustees last week directed Zoning Inspector Timothy Kearns to check with Frank Chorba, the civil engineer on the project, to ensure additional soil borings are not needed.
Initial soil borings showed two areas where "dewatering," or draining, will be required before the site can be excavated for construction. Those areas were located where the corners of the new town hall will be located.
Trustees discussed the issue with architects David Leber and Richard Brown, of Leber-Brown Architects in Cleveland.
When asked what the impact would be if the township were to shift the building 10 feet from the questionable soils, Mr. Leber said it could mean some minor modifications to the plans. He said there likely would be additional engineering and architectural fees.
Mr. Brown said the township is not talking about changing the building, and the township may be able to submit plans to the Geauga County Building Department now and add addendums to those plans later. "There's nothing you said that would represent huge changes," he said.
He said the building's load is not that great that it should affect the building site.
But Mr. Kearns said he has concerns. He said the plans must be approved by the Geauga Soil and Water Conservation District. That approval must be obtained, he said, before the building department will accept the plans. He said the conservation district wants a "solid set of plans that are not going to change."
In addition, Mr. Kearns said, without the district's approval, he cannot issue a zoning certificate, which also is needed for submittal to the county.
Township Road Superintendent James Teichman cautioned trustees against being penny wise and pound foolish. "If you're going to put up a million-dollar building, doesn't it make sense to do a few more borings?" he said. "It's a million dollars of my taxpayer money too."
Mr. Brown said the township could have Mr. Chorba speak with the geo-technical engineers that did the borings to determine whether they believe more are necessary.
But Mr. Teichman said it seems clear by the initial tests that additional borings are needed. "The document is there, and it doesn't look great," he said.
Mr. Teichman said it's "highly probable" that the geo-technical engineers will say more borings are needed.
Trustee Todd Ray said the trustees would call a special meeting of the board if authorization for additional borings is needed.
Trustees also asked Mr. Kearns to get additional quotes for clearing the land.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has ordered the township to have the land cleared by April 1, a date set as the early nesting time for the protected Indiana bats.
Mr. Kearn had provided trustees with one quote for the work for $5,200.
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