Canfield trustee candidates: Fix park

By Elise Franco

efranco@vindy.com

Canfield

Incumbent Martha Zarlenga faces two challengers in the race for one seat on the Canfield Board of Trustees.

Zarlenga, 73, elected to a two-year, unexpired term in 2009, is challenged for a new four-year term by Joe Paloski, 26, and Steven Maszczak, 36.

Both Zarlenga and Paloski expressed displeasure with the state of the township’s 580 acres of park land on Herbert Road. More than $1.5 million is already invested in the project, which includes six soccer fields and a nonfunctional multipurpose building.

Maszczak declined an interview at The Vindicator and did not fill out a candidate questionnaire.

Paloski said he’s appalled at the condition of the fields, which were installed in 2009, and until recently, largely were unusable by the Canfield Soccer Club.

“I’ve visited those fields, and they’re horrible,” he said. “This is one of the worst-planned projects I’ve ever seen.”

The $300,000 multipurpose building and concession area is unused because it lacks proper sewage hookups.

Zarlenga said she spoke with representatives from Old North Church next to the park, who agreed to provide an easement for a waterline. She said she’s now working on expediting a sewer line.

“I’ve talked to the [Mahoning County Sanitary Engineer] about a possible hookup,” she said. “The township has the money, but [the other trustees] want to sit on the property as it is.”

Both Zarlenga and Paloski agree that a fence is needed to secure a large retention pond at the bottom of a hill near two of the soccer fields.

“The little kids wander over during soccer games. ... And I can’t even get a sign to put up near it,” she said.

Paloski said its inevitable that a soccer ball will roll into the pond, and someone will fall in trying to get it.

“Just one injury is one too many,” he said.

Zarlenga said the township, which has a $4.2 million annual budget, has a nearly $2-million surplus through annual estate-tax funds from the state.

That money is a part of the general fund, which makes up more than half of the budget, said Fiscal Officer Carmen Heasley, who is also up for re-election.

Heasley, 61, first elected in 1999, faces challenger Erin Steele-Tarasuck, 40.

Zarlenga said the township has more than enough money to hire another full-time road department employee. The road department has two full-time and one part-time employees.

Paloski, however, touted more cooperation among neighboring communities and suggested that Canfield city could work with the township on patrols, freeing up Mahoning County deputy sheriffs who patrol now.

“The deputy could then patrol closer to Boardman, where crime has increased,” he said. “We need more shared services. ... I feel like we should all be saying, ‘If you need help, what can we do?’”