By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
The Superior Township Trustees met in a regular session on Tuesday, Aug. 18. Trustees present were Dan Gillen, Mike Trausch and Jacob Borton. Also, Fiscal Officer Vanessa Shepard and Maintenance Supervisor Cody Boyd were present.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, the minutes from the Aug. 4 meeting were read and approved.
Gillen and Trausch recently attended a Lake Erie Waterkeepers boat cruise in Toledo where they traveled onto Lake Erie to look at the algae problems.
“They’re really against big cattle operations and they think we should try to make laws that everything got to be registered over 300 heads of cattle,” said Gillen. “Basically, they want the same as Indiana.”
Gillen presented a copy of the resolution they want the trustees to approve, but he said it all starts with the county commissioners.
The resolution requested the State of Ohio to match four State of Indiana policies and laws for concentrated animal feeding operations and manure.
“The commissioners told us we had to start it now,” pointed out Gillen. “In Indiana, over 300 heads have to be permitted and to have a manure plan. They can still get up to 1,000 heads as long as they’re permitted; they have to make up a plan on how to hold up that manure.”
He noted that Indiana has only 72 hours before the manure can be spread on a field.
Ohio requires manure piled on open fields to be applied after 180 days with no cover or berm requirements allowing rain to wash the manure into nearby streams and neighbors’ property.
“I was told the farmers are putting 50 percent less phosphorus than what they have in the past,” Gillen said. “I asked them [Lake Erie Waterkeepers] how much Toledo puts out, big factories and whatever pollutant they put out with phosphorus. They said its only two percent.”
Gillen said if the township gets the commissioners to get started now, it could be over a year before it could become law.
Action on the resolution was tabled until the next meeting in September. Shepard reported that townships can now obtain a dot gov domain for their email. It’s recommended for cybersecurity purposes.
She will have to prepare a resolution for the next meeting. Once the trustees approve and sign it, she will go through the steps to get it.
“As far from what I’ve researched, we can set it up so where its dot gov and anybody who can still send it to our email that’s there now, then we won’t have to send the new email, but it would be more secure that way,” Shepard commented.
She also commented that the township has been approved for the sign grant but is working way through the hoops. The new signs will be arriving next year.
Trustees met with Paul Roehrig of Fackler Monument regarding pouring grave footers for the new columbarium at Riverside Cemetery in Montpelier.
Roehrig told the Trustees he is hoping to get the project started soon after the county fair season is over in September. He will be contacting the township to set a date to begin the work. Gillen said the township already has a contract with Fackler Monument.
They put a stipulation in there so they could pour at least four grave footers at a time. This will keep the cement trucks from tearing up the cemetery drives.
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:03 p.m. Next meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 3:30 p.m.
Story updated August 24, 2026 at 10:13 a.m.