WARREN — Warren Township trustees are asking Trumbull County commissioners to defund the Trumbull County MetroParks Board in its 2025 budget because of the board’s continued effort to demolish the Leavittsburg dam.

Jason Miner, assistant township fiscal officer, said the MetroParks board is continuing its attack against the township and its residents through its continued efforts to remove the dam despite recommendations provided by a DLZ study that was paid for by the county commissioners and the Trumbull County Engineer’s Office.

In a two-page letter provided to the commissioners, Warren Township Trustees Ryan Yoho, Edward Anthony and Kay Anderson noted that continued funding “will allow the board and its director to continue its pursuit of removing the dam regardless of the township’s concerns.”

Miner and Anderson attended Wednesday’s commissioners meeting because the county was scheduled to discuss the 2025 budget.

“We are deeply concerned that if the MetroParks board is fully funded, it will use the money to further pursue the removal of the dam through various means, including through man hours of Executive Director Zach Svette, fees for attorneys and (the use) of other fees needed to complete the project,” trustees stated in the letter.

Because MetroParks board members are appointed by the county’s probate judge, township trustees argue the MetroParks board can spend available money however it wants, regardless of the will of taxpayers.

Miner said a failed 2022 effort to pass a parks levy that lost by 6,000 votes demonstrated the public is not interested in the continued funding of the MetroParks.

“The will of our county is clear — the MetroParks Board deserves no more money,” trustees wrote in their letter. “Residents across this county are dissatisfied with the performance of the current board and its executive director.”

The letter also noted that current and former Trumbull department heads, including sanitary engineer Gary Newbrough and former engineer Randy Smith, have expressed concern about the impact if the dam comes out before the completion of a planned sewer project.

Commissioner Denny Malloy, the only remaining member of last year’s commissioners office, said he reached out to the governor’s office and the Ohio EPA and learned that virtual meetings with the MetroParks board, Warren Township trustees and the commissioners could be set up to discuss the dam issue.

If all parties agree to participate in the meeting, Ohio EPA representatives are expected to outline alternatives that may not require the repayment of funds already spent on the project.

Malloy told Anderson that members of the MetroParks Board are concerned about being responsible for the dam, if nothing is done to mitigate its dangers. The dam is owned by the MetroParks board.

Malloy said MetroParks board members are questioning if the township would be willing to take responsibility for the dam.

Commissioner Rick Hernandez, a former township trustee in Hubbard, suggested the township would likely find it difficult to afford insurance for the dam.