Champion to move forward on sound wall

Enough signatures gathered during neighborhood canvass

CHAMPION -- After walking door-to-door in a residential neighborhood near state Route 5 for two weekends, township trustees have secured the needed signatures to submit to the Ohio Department of Transportation to proceed with getting a sound wall.

Trustee Chairman Doug Emerine said he, Brian Bugos and Bill Templeton reached nearly 70 homes near Stewart Street and Rellim Drive.

"We have completed the door-to-door canvassing. We were able to reach all but four homes. The petition with signatures will be submitted to ODOT on March 10," Emerine said.

He said the petition has 66 signatures, which is more than 51 percent of needed signatures of people living in the area.

Emerine said any resident who still wants to sign the petition before Wednesday can call a trustee.

Emerine said most of the residents he spoke with favored a sound wall, but a few were not for the project.

He said while he and Bugos were walking the neighborhood, they could hear the loud noise coming from the state Route 5 / 8 bypass nearby.

"I heard the noise when I was there. I am not sure if, like the airplanes in Vienna coming and going from the air base, people get accustomed to the noise or not," Emerine said.

Several residents, including Tamie Hoostal and Holli Capron, have attended trustee meetings starting last year concerned about the noise, noting the tractor-trailers, motorcycles and vehicles constantly are coming and going.

The goal is to get a sound wall barrier to alleviate the noise for residents who live on Stewart Street, Relim Drive, Brookside Drive and Mahoning Place.

Officials have said they were informed by ODOT to qualify for the barrier, homes must be built before the highway was put in, and the noise in the homes reached a sound level over 67 decibels. Emerine has said no additional taxpayer dollars would be used for the barrier.

ODOT officials have told trustees the process will take four to five years.

In other action, trustees:

• Are meeting with the Trumbull County Engineer's Office on possibly getting waterlines extended to the township in the State Road area and in areas of Oak Hill, Prentice Road and Downs Road. Emerine said there has been some interest from residents in the areas following a public meeting about waterlines being extended from the Blueprint to Prosperity project;

• Are investigating what can be done with the abandoned Speedway property at Mahoning and Champion avenues;

• Appointed Richard Berry to the zoning commission;

• Approved LED lighting upgrades for the road and police departments at approximately $6,000;

• Are continuing contract negotiations with the road, fire and police departments on their next three-year contract. The current contracts expire in May.