CHAMPION — This summer has seen a lot of heavy rainfall that has caused flooding for many communities and township trustees are doing what they can to help alleviate some of the problems by using special cameras to check the insides of storm sewers.

More than 35 residents attended a special nearly two-hour meeting of trustees Monday to ask what can be done when streets are turned into rivers and yards into lakes in a matter of minutes during rainstorms.

Several residents mentioned heavy rains that fell on July 10, which caused a lot of flooding issues on Shafer Road, Chapel Hill, Aspen Drive, Pierce Road and Airport Road.

Trustee Chairman Doug Emerine said all three trustees were driving around the township July 10 to assess the storm damage and flooding. He said they saw which areas were flooded and contacted both the county engineer and the county sanitary engineer.

Trustee Rick York said he saw a lot of flooding that day throughout the township and noted it was hard for him to drive his car on some roads.

Officials said the St. William Church lawn was flooded and so were parts of Mahoning Avenue.

“I have never seen so much water flowing in the St. William’s parking lot. It looked like a river across Mahoning Avenue. It was an incredible amount of water that fell that day,” Emerine said.

Emerine said private contractors were hired to look at some of the problems in sanitary sewers and $15,000 was spent on special cameras to look inside the sewer pipes.

“When anyone notices things, let us know where. We can have someone come in and bring in equipment that will help us immensely. For the first time in the history of this township, we are going to be able to see inside the pipes. We will identify where there are problems,” Emerine said.

Trustee Rex Fee, who is a retired engineer, said the storm sewer collection system often needs to be looked at to make sure it is working properly.

He said he understands the flooding issues have been frustrating.

Emerine said trustees have heard about flooding issues for many years.

Emerine said the township has 12-inch storm lines and would likely need lines twice the size to keep up with the recent rainfall. He said the township’s focus is flushing out the storm drains and looking for issues in sewer lines that could be causing the flooding.

Resident Greg Lazor of Aspen Drive said when he has flooding issues, Road Supervisor Shawn Davis has come to his home to see what can be done to help. Resident Louise Copenhaver of Pierce Road said she appreciates what officials are trying to do to help residents.

She said during some storms, the water gets too high on the roads and overflows into yards.

Resident Jim Rapone of Calla Avenue earlier this month showed trustees pictures of the dead end section of the road where he and five others live being flooded continually.

Last spring, residents on Downs Road NW and Shafer Road NW reported extensive water damage, with residents stating their properties were underwater.

At recent meetings, Cortland and Warren city officials and Kinsman trustees also have had to deal with flooding issues in their communities.

Also Monday, trustees approved placing two renewal levies on the November ballot.

One is a 1.1-mill, five-year police levy to generate $122,847 annually. The owner of $100,000 home would pay $15 per year.

The second is a 1.5-mill, five-year road and bridges levy for road paving and resurfacing, and bridge improvements. The levy will generate $261,799 annually with the owner of a $100,000 home paying $34 per year.