HUBBARD TOWNSHIP — Things progressed a step further toward potentially bringing new life to a dam slated for removal in 2026, after trustees passed a resolution Thursday.

Brookfield trustees were invited, but did not attend, a special meeting at the township administration building, where Jacob Pries, a southeast field director at the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, spoke about the efforts the conservancy and Hubbard Township Trustee Jason Tedrow have undertaken to finalize a purchase agreement with the owner of the Coalburg Lake Dam.

Coalburg Land Partners LLC owns the property on which the dam is located.

The Coalburg Dam is more than 100 years old and the dam’s owners were previously ordered by the local court to have it removed last summer because it is in poor condition. However, a group of residents formed a committee to save it.

Pries said the dam would be a separate issue to be discussed later, but right now, they needed a “takeout partner,” someone to own the property and manage it in accordance with the Clean Ohio Fund deed restrictions — passive park uses, trails, pavilion or parking lots — the only ones allowed as long as they don’t undermine the purpose of conservation.

“We really need a partner to come on beyond that grant application, receive those funds; we would write the grant, we would basically do everything it takes to get the property from us to you,” Pries said.

“This would be at no cost to the township, we would do this just as part of our mission to conserve property.”

Pries said they were past the point of when they should have had a partner for the grant, which is why he needed a decision from trustees as soon as possible.

He said there was an opportunity for the Trumbull County MetroParks to come in and be an applicant, whom they’ve had discussions with about Coalburg Lake. He said the metroparks and its director, Zachary Svette, said they would be “more than willing” to discuss a memorandum of understanding.

Pries said it would involve the metroparks owning the property and the township would manage it. He said there are “a lot of” other documents that would need passed between now and the grant funding deadline, which is the the beginning of September, and that is why they had to move to hit the deadline.

“The opportunity is there to do something really special,” Pries said.

Tedrow told trustees that in information he forwarded to them, there was talk of a 25% local funding match, which he deemed as a hangup when speaking to Brookfield trustees about it at their Monday trustee meeting.

“They’re (the Western Reserve Land Conservancy) going to fundraise for any makeup that isn’t there, but it’s likely already built into the sale of the property,” Tedrow said. “The sale of the property is low enough that when they get it appraised, it’s likely going to be over the 25% equity that would constitute our local contribution.”

With it being a public use property, there would be no property tax associated with it for the township, Tedrow said. They could do as little as open it up to the public after purchasing it.

“I think this would be an opportunity for us as a township to take on a large asset; the largest MetroPark in the county is 144 acres of leased land,” Tedrow said. “This is for 338; it would be no cost to us and we could potentially go down the path of developing our own park board.”

Tedrow said it was also an asset the township could look at as a revenue source down the road, as they explore the property. He said that if they took it on and realized it wasn’t right for them, the metroparks would probably be in complete agreement to take it on.

TRUSTEE QUESTIONS

Trustee Bill Colletta said he wasn’t negative toward the idea, but he also had a lot of questions, namely what would happen if one of the entities — Hubbard or Brookfield townships — decided not to participate.

Pries said that if either chose not to participate, the MetroParks would fill in for the other, but if neither did, the MetroParks would sit on the application alone.

“Say that you all decided to do this — we would need to go to Brookfield to get a resolution of support that says, ‘hey, we support this project. We support you applying for this’,” Pries said. “Trumbull MetroParks does not have to do that as part of this Cleanup Ohio Grant process.”

Pries said without Brookfield’s letter of support, they can’t move forward.

Colletta asked who would take over the dam portion of the lake, as it still has work needed.

Pries said it would go to a foundation, like the Community Foundation of Western PA and Eastern Ohio, another non-profit Tedrow said they’ve been working with on the project. Pries said it would be opened up from private hands, where it’s “really hard” to get funds.

Colletta said the 25% match would be around $300,000, which the township wouldn’t be able to support. He said he was concerned about OTARMA, however, which turned down insurance liability in a similar situation for another park board.

Pries clarified that Thursday night’s resolution was enabling his organization to try and apply for grant money for the lake. He said that as they get closer to the September deadline, it gets harder and harder to make the project a reality, which is why he suggested a MOU between the township and the metroparks if trustees felt the township couldn’t handle it.

Patrick Wilson, the township’s attorney, gave his opinion, saying that the resolution wasn’t obligating the township to finish the process — it simply puts them into play.

RESIDENT COMMENTS

Tedrow said that while members of the Hubbard Conservation Club wanted to make it to the meeting but couldn’t, they expressed “complete support” in finding some way to bring the lake to the community.

“They’re like, ‘hey, maybe there’s a chance down the road, we can expand our fishing derby to help more kids out and stuff like that; that’s something we can work with you guys on,'” Tedrow said. “So there’s a lot of people interested in it.”

Anna Sittig, who recalled the lake 45 years ago, said it was a beautiful place back then.

“I was there when Sharon still had parties and pontoons; the bald eagles are up there, it’s beautiful,” Sittig said. “It would be nice if somebody could preserve it and it would be really cool if it was part of Hubbard.”

Mary Lou Reder, another resident who was appointed chairman of the basic coalition to save Coalburg Lake in January 2024, was emotional as she talked about the property’s value to the community, noting the metroparks’ lack of interest in it from the beginning.

“The fact that this park, everything, is perfectly in a box, they’re willing to take it, and it just shows me how much they are willing to put forward and put effort into it,” Reder said. “We, from the beginning, there were so many people in the community putting work into this park and wanting to make a difference in our community.”

“I couldn’t even imagine it going to that other park because it belongs in our community. I sometimes feel like I’m crazy, because I just think that the land is so beautiful and to me, it is, and is to everyone in here. If it went somewhere else, they wouldn’t appreciate it like we do,” Reder added.

Police Chief Brenda Freeman expressed concerns with liability when it came to emergency personnel accessing the lake, suggesting signs saying that people would be entering at their own risk.

She said it was still a “wonderful opportunity” for the township to have something nice like the lake in their area, but reiterated her concerns.

VOTE

Trustees passed a resolution moving forward with allowing the Western Reserve Land Conservancy to apply for grant funds on behalf of the township to purchase Coalburg Lake — excluding the dam.

Trustee Monica Baker abstained from the vote following several minutes of deliberation and additional questions, saying she was too nervous and the resolution would pass anyway.

Pries, who drove 90 minutes to be at the meeting, expressed pleasure with having the township on board with the project.

“It feels great to have the township pass the resolution tonight and really maintain some of that local control; there’s a lot of really passionate people about this project,” Pries said. “It’s an amazing thing that we can really have an opportunity to bring to the community and let folks feel the benefits of what conservation can bring and what that walk in the woods can do for folks.”

He said he hasn’t gone too far into the lake’s natural resource survey data just yet, but there’s multiple wetlands — nearly all of which are Category III, the highest one possible.

He said their natural resource surveyor noted different species of grass, too.

“There’s already kind of a building of this great wildlife sanctuary that’s already there,” Pries said. “And hopefully we can continue to preserve that, protect that, and keep that place there in perpetuity.”