YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County commissioners will have a staff meeting next week to discuss a possible resolution “in support of” the Ohio Department of Natural Resources taking over operation of the McGuffey Preserve as a state nature preserve.

It is now owned by Mill Creek MetroParks.

The commissioners announced the idea at their regular weekly meeting Thursday at the courthouse.

Commissioner Anthony Traficanti said after the meeting the board has a letter from ODNR stating that the preserve, which is on McGuffey Road in Coitsville Township, has the “necessary geologic and ecological attributes to qualify for dedication as a State Nature Preserve.”

Traficanti said the resolution would make a statement on the record that the commissioners support having ODNR take over the preserve in hopes that it will result in the McGuffey pond, which is in the preserve, being better maintained in the future.

Traficanti said he hopes Youngstown and Coitsville Township will show similar support.

POND CONDITIONS

Richard Scarsella, a member of the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society, spoke to the commissioners multiple times in recent months to let them know about the deteriorating conditions at the pond and to ask for their support in getting something done about it. The society gave the 74-acre preserve to the MetroParks in 1998.

The preserve was the boyhood home of William Holmes McGuffey, author of the McGuffey Eclectic Readers, a series of textbooks that became the standardized reading text for most schools nationwide during the mid to late 19th century.

Scarsella said after the commissioners meeting Thursday having a state nature preserve is “much more prestigious than having a neglected park facility.”

He left open the possibility that the MetroParks could co-manage it with the state.

The commissioners attempted to have a private, executive session staff meeting with the MetroParks to discuss the issue, but the MetroParks declined, saying the issue cannot be discussed under the Open Meetings Act exemption for “land acquisition.” MetroParks board President Lee Frey told The Vindicator last month the discussion would not qualify for executive session because the MetroParks is not giving up the preserve.

“Our land is not for sale. It is not a land acquisition thing. We have no interest in giving away the land, so there’s nothing” in Ohio law that would allow the discussion to be private, Frey told the newspaper.

OPINIONS

When Commissioner David Ditzler was asked after the meeting how he would vote on such a resolution, he said would want to talk to the ODNR and state lawmakers about “what their intentions are” in terms of funding the upkeep of the preserve.

“If it’s a swamp sitting there under ODNR’s ownership or under Mill Creek Park’s ownership, I would rather it be under Mill Creek MetroParks’ ownership. But if ODNR is going to make a commitment and our state legislature is going to request some annual funding or permanent funding to use to make it a viable option for people to use, then I have in favor of turning it over to ODNR.”

Ditzler said a resolution is “just a request. Nobody has to do anything.” He said he could just as easily support a resolution to Mill Creek MetroParks asking them: “What do you intend to do? Can you put more funding in?”

He said the issue of park land is one that communities across the state struggle with because of decreased funding.

Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Rigetti said if the MetroParks is not willing to give up the preserve, “then let’s work together to get it done. At least fix it up. If you don’t want to give it up, I’m cool, but are you going to take care of it?”