The Franklin Township trustees held an at times tense regularly scheduled meeting at 7 p.m. on April 28, 2026, at Township Hall. In attendance were trustees Kellie Kapusta, Scott Swan and Glenn Russell. Also attending were Zoning Inspector Joe Ciccozzi, Deputy Fire Prevention Officer Richard Smith and Road Superintendent David Akerley.
The meeting was called to order shortly after 7 p.m. by Kapusta, and the first order of business was the approval of the meeting minutes from the previous April meeting. Russell and Swan voted to approve the minutes, while Kapusta abstained, saying she was not present during that session.
The floor was then opened for public comment. Scott Rudlosky offered a proposal to add some disc golf holes at the township parks. He proposed a pilot program that could be started with a $500 grant he recently received specifically for disc golf. All of the trustees expressed positive support and asked Rudlosky to return to an upcoming meeting with some visuals and more details.
Sheri Meacham wanted to get on the trustees’ radar a section of West Lake that she felt was getting really rough. Russell assured her it was something they were aware of. Debbie Redmond brought up concerns she had about potholes, particularly on Crystal. Akerley said he was aware and that was actually a road that was slated for paving this year.
Joey Yahner and Ronald Thompson spoke on behalf of the residents of Germaine Reserve. They felt like the developer left them with a mess of trees that needed to be removed and, conversely, curbs that needed trees. The pair believed that the township had some responsibility for allowing the developer to complete the project in what Thompson called “a mess.” The pair appeared before the trustees asking for help. What they got was a resounding no.
“It’s not the township’s responsibility to beautify neighborhoods; that’s the HOA,” Swan said.
“Is it not the responsibility of the township to fix what developers did to screw over homeowners?” Thompson replied.
Swan directed them to a lawyer. Thompson said their lawyer advised the HOA to remove dead trees. Swan suggested they get another lawyer.
Hal Lehman told the trustees that the good weather has brought the fisherman out and that people are parking in the roads. He called the sheriff to report the issue but no one came. He said he would call again but wanted the trustees to be aware of the situation, as well.
Rudlosky then took an additional moment to issue a warning that what he deemed were “criminal tree trimmers” were working through his neighborhood. Kapusta said they were aware of that, as was the sheriff. Andy Horner added that there was a large tree stump in his neighborhood sitting on the side of the road that he believes fell off of the truck of the tree trimmers in question.
Akerley started his road report by assuring those in attendance that they would get to all of the potholes, but it is chip and brush week. When they are finished, he said they will need to make another round because “there’s a lot of brush out there.”
“Amongst mowing grass, storm sewer repairs, spring clean up, this sign’s down, this mailbox is down, I need a tree put in my tree lawn,” Akerley added. “You know, it just gets overwhelming, to be honest.”
He also reported that the Brady Lake Park electrical upgrade was still in the works, and the pickleball installation was on hold because of storm water issues.
For the zoning report, Ciccozzi listed a number of recent zoning approvals for new homes, fences, accessory structures and the conditional use of an old Spectrum store for a child development center. He also updated the trustees on a number of violations, including a junkyard on Cherry Lane and a property on Ravenna Road. He said he would soon be bringing a request to the trustees for administrative search warrants for each location.
Smith had a very short fire report. Arby’s had a CO2 sensor go off and their soft drink machine was down. The two issues were related because the employees had not correctly set up the CO2 tanks to run the fountain drink dispenser. Smith commended the fire department for handling the situation, adding that an employee found a manual and the drinks were flowing there once again.
Kapusta then asked for an update on old business. Two topics were brought up: the resurfacing of the townhall roof and updates to the township’s website, but there was nothing to report on either item.
Several pieces of legislation were then considered and all were approved unanimously. 2026-14 gave the township permission to pursue grant funding from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. 2026-15 authorized the acceptance of the Ames litigation settlement in the amount of $4,000. 2026-16 authorized the Portage County Prosecutor’s office to pursue a contempt of court violations relating to actions not taken at 7448 state Route 43.
Also taken into consideration were a number of changes to zoning. The trustees approved a request by the zoning committee to publish meeting minutes and announcements online as opposed to in the paper. They also unanimously approved a motion that would rotate the head of committee every two years.
Swan asked for two changes to be made regarding a food truck zoning line item. Those were that the fee be $25 per event and that all vendors undergo an inspection. With these adjustments, this item was unanimously approved.
Unanimous approvals were also made for changes to zoning regulations for medical and recreational cannabis and data centers, which will be limited to one building. It was noted that this effectively lifts the moratorium on data centers.
There was no correspondence to enter into the record.
Kapusta made mention that Lise Russell was excused from the evening’s meeting, but she had previously submitted a financial report, which included an expenditure of $140,470.81 for bill payment. After this report was approved by all trustees, the meeting was adjourned.