Brimfield

Brimfield is having a hard time hiring police officers and firefighters.

“There are just not a lot of people applying for those jobs,” township Trustee Nic Coia said.

Enter Fire Chief Craig Mullaly.

“Craig came to us and said, ‘Hey, I want to try to do something out of the box, a little bit different,’” Coia said. “He worked with the board, and I spent some time talking to him, too. The township voted to create a new job description as part of what it calls a pilot – or first-time – program. What we’ve started is something called a cadet program. The goal is to go into high schools near graduation time and talk to students about their interest in becoming firefighters. The schools we’re considering are Field, Rootstown and Maplewood Career Center.”

From that, the township will get applications from those students who are interested, and the township will interview them and select three of them to come on as full-time employees with the fire department in a probationary or cadet position.

“They won’t be a firefighter because they haven’t been through the fire academy, they haven’t been to paramedic school or EMT school,” Coia said. “They’ll just be there kind of helping us initially but while we put them through the 12-week fire academy, the paramedic school and the EMT school. Upon completion of all of those, they’ll have the opportunity to be promoted up into a full-time firefighter position. In return for that, they’re going to sign a contract that says if they leave within so many years, they have to pay a percentage of all of that school cost back to us.

“It allows us to really capture some kids who are looking for what they’re going to do when they graduate from high school, get them involved early, get them to the academy and bring them right up. I’m really excited about this program. I think it’s a way to get the kids to connect with the high school, get some high schoolers an opportunity. It’s not a job; really, it’s a career. We’re going to try it and see how it plays out.”

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The township voted to create another new job description called “business manager.”

“It’s a brand-new position. The township hasn’t had this title in the past,” Coia said.

The position is going to be a leadership role overseeing projects in the township and working as a project manager with the department heads. The person will oversee goals and help facilitate projects that are going on, follow up, make sure deadlines are being met, those sorts of things.

“There is no timeline on applying for the job yet,” Coia said, “but the goal is to fill the position soon.”

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Scott Farm Market and Greenhouse, located at 1977 Meloy Rd., held its grand opening April 29.

“They’re selling locally raised beef. They have a cattle farm,” Coia said. “They have baked goods from local bakers, and they’ll also be selling vegetables in the next month or so. There’s also a local woodcarver selling his works. It’s a brand-new, nice building. They’re doing an amazing job. The owners, myself and Commissioner Sabrina Christian-Bennett were at the grand opening. There was a great big turnout.”

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Brimfield will hold a McGuire Park Preview Hike on Thursday, May 25.

The park, located behind Cascade Plaza on Tallmadge Road, was donated to the township. Participants must register for time slots to go on a hike of the property. It will be a guided tour of what the property looks like and what the future plans are for it. To register and for more information, visit brimfieldohio.gov. 

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Brimfield’s Touch-a-Truck event will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 17 at Brimfield Lions Community Park at 4484 Edson Rd.

“It’s a spring event for dads on Father’s Day weekend to take their kids down and see the trucks,” Coia said. “All the road equipment plus other large equipment for the kids to climb on and get inside of will be there, including fire trucks, S.W.A.T. vehicles, road department vehicles, excavator vehicles and dump trucks. There are usually crafts and other activities for the kids, too. Food trucks will also be on site.”

Admission is free.

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A bird walk will be held at 8:30 a.m. Friday, May 19 at Cranberry Creek Park at 2211 Lynn Rd.

Leading the walk and giving a talk about it will be township parks employees Cassie Weyer and Erin Bowman.

“Specifically,” Coia said, “the group will be looking for warblers, a migratory bird that is going to be coming through this area at that time.”

Mogadore

The planning and zoning commission held a meeting April 25 regarding the resubmitted preliminary plan for the Testa Realty, Inc., development at the old West’s Mogadore Country Club.

The planning and zoning commission passed the resubmitted preliminary plan, and the first phase is scheduled to begin in August.

“That includes the building of 40 houses and 60 townhouses,” Mayor Mike Rick said. “The prices for the houses are supposed to run from the low $300,000s to the high $300,000s, and the prices for the townhouses are supposed to start at around $250,000.”

Ryan Homes will build the houses and townhouses.

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Village council passed legislation to apply for an Ohio Department of Natural Resources Nature Works Grant to purchase new playground equipment for Lions Park.

The expected cost of the equipment is going to be around $150,000, and the grant would cover 75% of it.

Said Rick: “We should find out if we get the grant towards the end of summer.”

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Mogadore’s annual Memorial Day Parade will start at 10 a.m. Monday, May 29.

The parade will start on James Street next to the public library and go north on South Cleveland Avenue, west on Mogadore Road and end at Greenwood Cemetery. The parade will feature veterans from American Legion Post 452 and VFW Post 8487, the Auxiliary Women, the Mogadore High School band, and the youth baseball and softball teams. A brief ceremony will take place at the cemetery in which the guest speaker will be Kevin Love, a Mogadore police officer who is also a veteran.

Suffield

The Suffield League’s annual Memorial Day Parade will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, May 29.

The parade will begin at the corner of Waterloo Road and Catherine Street, head west through the center of town on Waterloo Road across state Route 43, and conclude at Suffield Elementary School at the corner of Waterloo Road and Rhodes Avenue, where there will be a military service at the flagpole. 

“Typically, in the parade are local businesses, the youth sports teams and the Field High School marching band,” township Trustee and Suffield League President Tom Calcei said. “Usually, the churches, the Scouts and the Lions Club have floats. We have two rock and roll bands that are going to be in the parade this year.”

The grand marshal will be longtime Suffield resident Naomi Kapper, who is 100 years old. 

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The township will hold its third annual Cruise-In from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 11 at Town Hall at 1256 Waterloo Rd.

“It’s not a car show because you can come and go as you please. If you want to come in and stay for an hour or stay for 10 minutes, that’s OK,” township Chair Jeff Eldreth said. “With a car show, the cars have to be judged at a certain time … it’s too structured. The last two years each, we’ve had 100-125 cars participate. Most of the cars are vintage cars, but if you have a Honda you think is cool, you can bring it.”

There will be hot dogs and ice cream provided by Katie’s Korner, and the Field Band Boosters will provide hamburgers. A local church will bring a bouncy house for the kids.

“We’ve had very good turnouts the last two years,” Eldreth said. “The public really likes it. Even if you don’t like cars, it’s more of a social event. It’s been a positive thing for our township.”

Atwater

Atwater’s annual Memorial Day Parade will kick off around lunchtime Monday, May 29.

The parade will start at the corner of Bank Street and Waterloo Road and conclude at Town Hall at 1219 state Rte. 183, where a ceremony will take place. State Representative Steve Demetriou will speak at the ceremony.

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The township opened bids for a chip-and-seal on Virginia Road.

“We awarded it tentatively to Melway Paving, which gave the lowest bid,” township Chair John Kovacich said. “I’m having the prosecutor’s office read over the paperwork to make sure the contract is good.”

The chip-and-seal should be done sometime in July.

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Bids were opened for the walking trail at Old School Park, but the prices that came in were much too high.

“We had an Ohio Department of Natural Resources [ODNR] grant prior to Covid, but we decided we’re going to give the grant money back to ODNR,” Kovacich said. “We’re not moving forward with the walking trail. The cost of everything went up, but our grant money stayed the same. The grant money would not have covered enough of it.”

Randolph

The Randolph Fire Department will host a pancake breakfast fundraiser at 8 a.m. on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29.