Russell Township: We Need to Start Governing for What Comes Next

Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting covered a lot of ground: zoning, roads, facilities, finances, cybersecurity, levy rates, legal counsel, equipment and more.

But as I left the meeting, three discussions stood out to me because they all came back to essentially the same question:

Are we going to anticipate problems, or are we going to wait until they land on our doorstep?

I prefer the former.

And frankly, on a few of these issues, I think we have waited long enough.

Data Centers: Why Are We Still Waiting?

The Zoning Commission brought forward its 2026 zoning amendment, which included new language addressing commercial electric vehicle charging stations.

I supported it.

In fact, I think addressing EV charging before it becomes a problem is exactly what a Zoning Commission should be doing. Technology changes. Land uses change. Good zoning should try to stay ahead of those changes rather than scrambling to respond after the fact.

Which brings me to the glaring omission:

Data centers.

I have raised data centers before. I have raised them in emails. I have raised them in conversations. And Thursday night, I raised them publicly.

Yet there was no data center language in this zoning revision.

I find that frustrating.

Data centers are becoming a significant land use issue across Ohio and around the country. The technology is also evolving rapidly. We should not reassure ourselves that Russell could never accommodate one of the enormous industrial campuses being constructed elsewhere and assume the issue ends there.

It doesn’t.

Smaller facilities exist. Technology changes. Infrastructure changes. Development pressures change.

And zoning written for yesterday does not automatically protect us tomorrow.

Russell also is not just any community.

We are overwhelmingly residential and semi-rural. Much of our community depends on wells and septic systems. Residents care deeply about noise, lighting, traffic, utility demands, open space, trees and the character that makes Russell different from more intensely developed communities around us.

I intend to protect that character.

What I do not want is for Russell Township to begin asking questions about water demands, cooling systems, generators, noise, setbacks, power infrastructure and environmental impacts after someone walks through the door with an application.

That is not planning.

That is reacting.

And no, I am not proposing that the Trustees sit down and write zoning regulations ourselves.

That is not our job.

I want the process to begin so our Zoning Commission can do its job: research the issue, work with legal and planning professionals, hear from residents and develop recommendations through the proper public zoning process.

The discussion apparently got some attention. After the meeting, the newspaper reporter covering the meeting approached the Zoning Commission Chair and asked him about data centers.

Good.

Let’s have the conversation.

But I also do not want us sitting here a year from now saying we are still thinking about starting the conversation.

At some point, thinking needs to turn into doing.

I am now drafting resolution language for consideration by the Board of Trustees that would formally initiate the zoning amendment process concerning data centers.

I am not writing the answer.

I am trying to get Russell Township to finally start asking the question.

The Road Department Building: At Some Point, We Have to Decide

We also returned Thursday night to another issue Russell has discussed for years: the condition and future of our Road Department building.

There has already been considerable discussion and work surrounding this facility. A previous study identified serious concerns about the building’s condition. Since then, we have talked about repairs, architectural concepts and the possibility of replacement.

Now we are repairing the roof.

That needs to happen.

But replacing pieces of an aging building one at a time is not the same thing as having a plan for the building.

Eventually, we have to decide what we are doing.

Thursday’s discussion included the possibility of obtaining an updated professional assessment of the facility so the Board can make an informed decision about whether continued investment in the existing structure makes sense or whether replacement becomes the more responsible long-term option.

I am not walking into that discussion saying:

“Build a new Road Department.”

I am saying:

Give us enough current, objective information to finally make a decision.

Our road employees work out of that facility. During winter storms, employees may spend extended periods there. The condition of the electrical system, sleeping accommodations, building infrastructure and the facility as a whole deserve something better than an endless cycle of temporary repairs followed by another promise that we will revisit the larger question later.

“At some point” cannot be a permanent date on the calendar.

If the evidence says repair it, then let’s develop a serious repair plan.

If the evidence says replace it, then let’s develop a responsible replacement plan.

But let’s stop living permanently between those two choices.

At some point, governing requires deciding.

Financial Transparency: It Is 2026

The third major discussion for me involved Township finances.

The Budget Commission process this year exposed something larger than any individual levy, carryover balance or appropriation:

Russell Township needs better systems for understanding and communicating its financial position.

I want Trustees to be able to look at what was appropriated, what has actually been spent, what remains and what the plan is for those remaining dollars.

That should not require detective work.

I want department heads to have timely access to the financial information they need to manage their departments.

And I want residents to be able to understand the Township’s finances without needing to become experts in public records requests or municipal accounting.

Our quarterly financial reports are available online.

Good.

Now let’s build on that.

I also want to be fair about the pace of this particular change. Our Fiscal Officer is new. I am in my first term. We are both learning, and I want to give him the time and space necessary to work through these questions with the Board and our departments.

This is not about blaming the Fiscal Officer.

It is about building a better system.

During Thursday’s discussion, we talked about reports, access to UAN financial information, ClearGov and ways to give Trustees, department heads and eventually the public better visibility into Township finances.

At one point, the discussion turned to the fact that financial information can be obtained by physically going to Township Hall, accessing UAN and retrieving the reports.

Yes.

It can.

But my question remains:

Why should that be our standard in 2026?

I work a full-time day job in addition to serving as a Trustee. Our department heads have departments to run. Residents have jobs, families and lives.

Technology exists that can securely provide information without requiring somebody to drive to Township Hall, sit down at a specific computer, download files and carry them home.

That may have been perfectly reasonable once.

It is not a compelling argument for how we should operate indefinitely.

I said it during the meeting, and I will say it again:

Why are we applying 2010 technology and processes to 2026 government?

Something having worked for the last decade is not, by itself, an argument for using it for the next decade.

“We’ve always done it this way” is an explanation.

It is not a strategy.

Modernization does not mean throwing away every existing process or buying technology because something has a shiny dashboard attached to it.

It means being willing to ask a very basic question:

Is there a better way to do this?

And when the answer is yes, being willing to change.

There Was Plenty More

The Board also handled a substantial amount of regular Township business Thursday night.

We approved a new Road Department utility truck and plow and roof repairs to the Road Department building. We discussed crack sealing, mailbox policy and options for obtaining objective road condition data that could help guide future paving decisions.

We discussed the Hemlock Road project and the funding gap remaining after the Township did not receive the full amount sought through OPWC.

The Police Department received authorization to dispose of obsolete equipment. We heard about upcoming Fire Department training and its 75th anniversary. We discussed adding a refrigerator to the community room, generator maintenance at Township facilities and a potential cell tower proposal that requires additional legal and planning review.

We approved supplemental appropriations, updated the Township’s cybersecurity policy, recognized a retiring police sergeant for his service and took the necessary action concerning tax rates and levies following this year’s Budget Commission process.

We also began discussing a proposed policy governing the use of outside legal counsel, another area where I believe clear processes and expectations matter.

It was a full meeting.

But for me, the common thread was hard to miss.

Build the Process Before the Crisis

Data centers.

Road infrastructure.

Township buildings.

Financial reporting.

Cybersecurity.

Legal services.

They sound like completely different subjects.

They really aren’t.

Every one of them comes back to whether Russell Township builds systems before we desperately need them.

I do not expect everyone in Township government to operate at the same pace I do.

Sometimes slowing down is appropriate.

Sometimes more information is necessary.

Sometimes the responsible answer really is to wait.

But there is a difference between being deliberate and being stuck.

And “we’ve always done it this way” cannot be the end of the conversation.

Neither can:

“We’ll look at it next year.”

Eventually, next year becomes this year.

My goal is not change for the sake of change.

It is a Russell Township government that plans ahead, uses modern tools when they make sense, provides residents meaningful access to information, protects the character of our community and leaves future Boards something better than a stack of unresolved problems and another list of things we intend to get around to someday.

Some of this will take time.

I understand that.

But on issues where we have enough information to move forward, I intend to keep pushing.

Not because everything old is bad.

Not because everything new is better.

And not because every problem requires some sweeping solution.

But because government works a lot better when we write the rules, build the systems, gather the information and make the plans before the problem is standing at the front counter asking what happens next.