By D. Anthony Botkin
Orange Township trustees Tuesday night discussed possible actions concerning artifacts found during the North Road project. Beth Hugh, road maintenance director, said approximately 800 artifacts were discovered during the project.
In the discussion Hugh said Lawhon and Associates had completed an archaeological study of the artifacts and had received a letter of concurrence from the State Historical Preservation Society.
Most of the artifacts found were arrowheads.
Hugh asked the trustees, “Does the township want to keep them?” She also offered the option of letting the “State Historical Preservation Society curate them for the township at a cost of $2,500.”
Hugh said if the township were to send them to the state they would have to send all of the artifacts and could hold onto just a few of them.
“I don’t see the sense in shipping them off,” said Trustee Rob Quigley. “I think we should hold onto them.”
Trustees discussed both possibilities, but approved keeping the artifacts for display at the township hall.
Hugh said she did know of anything preventing the township from keeping and displaying them.
“We could display them from my understanding and I think it’s kind of neat to have them here,” she said. However, “once displayed here I’m not going to be able to answer many questions about them.”
In other business trustees:
• Approved a motion to recommend approval of an application with stipulations of Dennis Hamilton requesting the rezoning of a 3.5-acre lot in North Central Office Park.
• Approved a contract with JJ Schlagel Inc. of Urbana for the Bale Kenyon Road improvement project to start this summer for $2,383,638.
• Approved an agreement with Genoa Township Board of Trustees to supply Orange Township with salt brine at a cost of $0.09 per gallon.
• Approved the parks department to apply for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources grants in 2017.
• Approved $30,164 to Park Enterprise for a change order on North Orange Park Trail and Park Improvements.
D. Anthony Botkin may be reached at 740-413-0902 or on Twitter @dabotkin.
