Poland Township man wants help with flooding issues
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POLAND TOWNSHIP – Indian Trail resident Don Kromer is seeking assistance in dealing with a severe flooding situation on his property and is asking the Poland Forest Board to clear out a drain and remove dead wood from the forest.
The issue for Kromer is not a new one. It has been an issue for the past three years. Anytime there is a hard rain in a short time, his property floods.
"I have had 7 feet of water in my back yard," Kromer said. "I own two acres, but when it rains, I am down to one acre that I can enjoy."
Kromer's property is in Poland Township and is bordered by Boardman Township and the Poland Forest and Poland Village. His property is at the low spot for drainage of surrounding neighborhoods.
The rear of Kromer's property was actually where an original county sanitary lift pump station was located. He said more than four years ago, the county sanitary district moved the lift station from the back of his property to the front side that borders Boardman. He said in exchange, he received the back section of property, including a raised area that contains the sanitary sewer line.
The big issue for Kromer is the creek that cuts across the Boardman side of his property and flows through a culvert into Poland Forest. The creek then winds down to Yellow Creek through a second culvert.
This year alone, Kromer said his property has flooded multiple times. Any storm with 1 inch or more of rain in a short time causes severe flooding in his rear yard. He has one area where he parks his fishing boat on a trailer. The most recent flood almost floated the boat while it was still attached.
"In the past three years, I have been to meetings in Boardman Township, Poland Township, Poland Village, the Mahoning County Commissioners, and the Poland Forest Board," he said. "On Sept. 28, 2026, I went to the Forest Board meeting and put them on notice for fallen trees and clogged drainage."
Kromer said he wants three things done. One is to clear the culvert that runs from his property into the park. The second is to clear the fallen trees from the creek that flows from the culvert. Finally, he wants the dead wood removed from around his property.
Mark Thompson from the Poland Forest Board walked the area in question and checked out Kromer’s claims. The culvert Kromer said is clogged was photographed by Thompson.
"The park end of the culvert is not clogged," Thompson said.
As for the creek being clogged with limbs, Thompson said there are fallen trees lying in and across the creek.
"It does not have a significant impact on the flow," Thompson said.
The Forest Board does not remove the dead wood from the forest, preferring to keep it natural. Many trees were ash and were killed by the emerald ash borer over the past decade.
Kromer insists the culvert needs to be cleaned out and the dead wood removed from around the creek. He plans to keep on striving for that solution, which he believes will ease the flooding issues.
"All I want to do is enjoy my property," he said. "All of it."