Repairs to Madison Township Hall could take several months

The Madison Township trustees say it may be a while before they’re able to resume normal operations at the township hall on Expressview Drive following a storm that ripped through the area surrounding and east of the building early Saturday morning.

Officials said at their meeting on Monday, held in a fire department meeting room, that they’re waiting for an insurance adjuster and possibly a structural engineer to look at the building and determine if what have been described as straight line winds did more than rip off half the roof as well as parts of the roof at the fire station next door.

Trustees began the meeting by reviewing video from a security camera on the side of the main fire station that was pointing toward the township hall and the parking lot behind when the storm hit. The approximately two minute video showed the wind pushing a dumpster, knocking out the power, blowing off part of the roof, and traffic stopping on U.S. 30 behind a semitractor trailer that was blown over.

“There go our records,” said Trustee Jim Houser as the wind blew away township documents that were stored in the attic.

Rebecca Owens, Richland County Emergency Management Agency director, said the video and pictures taken of the damage in the area have been sent to the National Weather Service for evaluation. However, because everything that was pushed over was towards the east, she said it appears that the damage was caused by a microburst downdraft of wind from the storm.

Owens said she has received several questions about why tornado sirens were not set off, particularly since there is one at the township building.

"They were not activated because there was no indication of any kind of tornadic activity,” she explained. “That is monitored by the National Weather Service out of Cleveland, so what they do is if they feel there is that type of activity in the atmosphere or different factors that would affect us they will contact county dispatch 911 and county dispatch has the means to actually activate the tornado sirens. There was none of that so you didn’t hear sirens and you may not have heard sirens even if they did go off because they’re intended for people outdoors to hear the sirens.”

Owens said Richland County 211 information and referral still is taking reports of any damage from Saturday's storm.

Fire Chief Ken Justus has been assessing the damage to the township hall and working to see what repairs need to be made.

“We are basically going to do stabilization to that building. We’re not going to do any improvements at this point,” Justus said. “We’re working with the insurance company to send out a structural engineer to look at the building to make sure it is structurally stable for repairs. At that point we will meet with an adjuster who will look over everything.”

He noted that holes in the fire station roof already have been patched and that he is working to fix the rooftop air conditioner that also was damaged.

Trustee Jim Houser said the board still is looking for a place to hold meetings.

“Depending on what the engineer comes up with, I think we’re either going to have to get a portable office or storefront or someplace to move to because it’s probably going to be two to four months and that’s just guessing,” Houser said.

Storm debris can be taken to road department garage

During one of the two public comment periods, residents asked what the township is going to do with storm debris that already has been put out at the edge of the road in the township right of way.

Trustee Cathy Swank said Road Supervisor Jim Baker has several projects that require closing roads while students are on spring break and doesn’t have the manpower to do major cleanup of storm debris.

“We have three guys and they have a lot of work scheduled to get done along the roads themselves and we just can’t do it,” Swank said.

Trustees did say residents can take their storm debris to the road department garage. However, the township will be taking only “brush type” yard waste material — no logs or building debris — from the area around the township house for the next 30 days. It was noted that the road department will be responsible to clean up some roadside ditch areas.

Trustees also urged residents to participate in a road cleanup effort from 9 a.m. to noon on April 22 that is being organized by township residents. The group is meeting at Providence Church on Grace Street and trash bags and gloved will be provided.

In other business, trustees agreed to participate in the latest opioid lawsuit settlement and a Richland Public Health vector control mosquito monitoring and selective spraying program. They also learned that a firm has been found to do guardrail replacement that was part of an Ohio Public Works Commission funded project to repair Old Bowman Street and discussed participating in the Richland County Engineer’s winter salt purchasing program.

Trustees also held a special meeting before their regular meeting to discuss the list of roads for this year’s summer resurfacing program. The board took Troy Drive off the list and reduced the thickness of asphalt overlays on the rest after learning that cost estimates from county Engineer Adam Gove were “way over” what they thought they would be and over the $300,000 the township has for this year’s road work.

Trustees hope to have the list completed and ready for bids by the end of this month.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Madison Township trustees discuss storm recovery efforts