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Township may resurrect newsletter
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - April 09, 2009)
Township may resurrect newsletter
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Chardon Township is looking to resurrect a newsletter in hopes of drawing more people to the trustees meetings.
Trustee Charles Strazinsky said last week that Trustee Michael Brown has been preparing a newsletter for mailing in the next couple of weeks.
Mr. Strazinsky said the hope is that, by better informing residents of township and community happenings, more people will start attending their meetings. "The ultimate goal is to try to get more people to come here," he said.
Mr. Brown said he has looked at newsletters provided by other townships to get an idea of how it should appear and what type of information is provided.
One thing now missing, he said, is community activities, such as civic organization doings and community fund-raisers. He said he would like to establish a network that allows the newsletter to list happenings in the township.
Other information, he said, would be the township's policies on culvert replacements, zoning procedures and Town Hall rentals. He said other important information he plans to use will be taken from Geauga County's Water Resource Department on disinfecting water wells and septic-system maintenance.
He said the township could save money on the mailers by asking people to give their e-mail addresses. The newsletters could then be sent electronically, rather than at a cost to the township through the mail.
Joan Windnagel said the township previously used newsletters, but not for several years.
Trustee Steven Borawski said the township probably should not send newsletters more frequently than quarterly because of the work involved.
Mr. Strazinsky said he has been hearing from a lot of people who are curious about the township's new park and what is being done there. He said he anticipates there will be more community involvement once the park opens.
Mr. Brown said one of the reasons he is trying to hurry with the first newsletter is the upcoming township trash day. Invariably, he said, people bring items that are more appropriate for the county's hazardous-waste collection. But the county collection is before the township trash day.
He said the township would have to get a "Web-hosting" deal to allow for the e-mailing of newsletters. He said the cost is nominal, between $7 to $12 a month.
Mr. Borawski asked that any future newsletter also include the township's hopes to get monetary donations or donations of labor for the new park.
Mr. Brown said he also planned to provide information on the upcoming fire levy the township has planned for November.
Resident Jane Kriz questioned whether the township was unnecessarily spending money without exploring options that are free. She said the township's Web site, newspapers and the local access cable channel could all be used at no cost to the township. "How do you explain this to the taxpayers?" she asked.
Mr. Brown said the township's costs could be reduced significantly if enough people sign up for the e-mail service.
Mr. Strazinsky said it was an attempt to inform the public of what is going on. "We would like to try it," he said. "We could be wrong, but if we don't try, we'll never know."
Township Zoning Inspector Donald Mohney said the intent is to interest people in coming to meetings, even before they have a complaint. "We want them to come here without an issue," he said.
Mr. Brown said there are approximately 1,800 homes in the township and estimated the cost between $800 and $1,000 for each mailing.
James Schumann, who chaired a township committee that sent out a township-wide survey, said cost for the survey was approximately 22 cents per mailing in February 2008. He said he believes a similar township-wide mailing would cost under $1,000.
He said he favors a newsletter, saying many township residents would like to hear the short- and long-term plans for the new park. He said he believed a semi-annual newsletter would suffice.
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