CANFIELD TOWNSHIP — Trustees received an update Thursday on a nuisance property at 4055 Fairway Drive that included the recent results of a lawsuit. The issue on the Fairway property dates back to 2021. Canfield Zoning Inspector Traci DeCApua said the abatement process began that year.

“The house had been vacant for a decade,” DeCapua said. “The house was in disrepair and even had squatters and kids breaking in. The property also had an in-ground pool that was full of polluted, stagnant water. Neighbors were complaining about the eyesore.”

After years of zoning violation notices dating back to 2017, DeCapua had the pool declared a safety hazard in May of 2022 and the house declared unfit for habitation in January of that year.

On June 14, 2022, trustees officially declared the property a nuisance and an official notice was sent to the property owner (Raymond Smith) that gave him until July 12 to reply on taking care of the problems. No reply was received and trustees went forward with the abatement process.

The township then received a reimbursable grant for $30,000 for the demolition of the house and removal of the pool. The grant came from Mahoning County commissioners. Trustees approved Gibbs Construction to handle the demolition and restore the property at a cost not to exceed $32,000.

The home and pool were removed and the property was returned as a vacant lot by the end of August 2022. Many neighbors let trustees know how happy they were to have the eyesore removed.

The $32,000 was then placed on a tax lien for the property. The property taxes were not being paid and the foreclosure process was started.

DeCapua said Smith took the township to court in a lawsuit, claiming he was never notified of the nuisance and he wanted to know where his house was. DeCapua said last week a judge ruled in favor of the township and the property is now going to auction.

“The new owners will be legally bound by the lawsuit’s outcome,” DeCapua said.

“It’s a big nuisance problem that was taken care of,” Trustee Joe Polaski said.

Also Thursday, trustees approved a motion enacting a 12-month moratorium on data centers.

“There is legislation trying to make data centers a public utility,” DeCapua told trustees. “If that passes, we would have no rights. It could also end up like solar. If it’s under a certain amount, townships could regulate them.”

She said the zoning commission is working on regulations, but it is hard because no one is sure on what is needed.

In other business, trustees:

l Approved an extra sheriff’s patrol starting July 1 through Sept. 30, not to exceed $7,400 to help curb speeding and car thefts.

l Heard from an iPanda representative on a live video feed regarding the handling of the township’s website and meeting the federal accessibility regulations.

l Approved Gulu Electrical Contractors of Youngstown to retrofit the township hall and garage lighting to LED at a cost not to exceed $4,000.

l  Approved Raptor Excavating to excavate and repair a 24-inch culvert pipe causing a sink hole in the Fox Den development.

l Voted to refuse all bids for the Ohio Public Works Commission funded garage addition and to rebid the project with new details in materials and plans.

l Gave approval to pay the OTARMA Risk Management annual township insurance coverage at an annual cost of $42,970.

l Accepted an anonymous donation of $10,000 to be used for community projects.