Tax Department
This is a reminder your Lordstown Village Local Income Tax is Due Tuesday, April 18, 2023 for the tax year 2022, our Tax Rate is 1%. All individuals over the age of 18 years of age, with taxable income are required to file a tax return. Forms are available by calling the Tax Office at 330-824-2627, blank forms are also available here on the website under the tax department tab.
You can mail your forms or put them in the drop box by the elevator door. If you need help in preparing your tax return stop by the Tax Office in the Village Administration Building at 1455 Salt Springs Road, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. If you have any questions or require assistance you may call the Tax Office at 330-824-2627, or email the tax department at moc.e1685926193galli1685926193vnwot1685926193sdrol1685926193@xate1685926193mocni1685926193.
Planning and Zoning
If you are planning on building a new structure, such as a garage, deck, porch, shed, or installing a swimming pool this year, please check with the zoning office before you start your project. You can contact us at 330-824-2489 or 330-824-2510. Please remember all zoning permit fees are doubled if you start construction on your project before receiving your zoning permit.
If you are having a garage sale, graduation party, selling your home or advertising an event, please remember: All temporary signs including real estate, political, garage sale, party, special event, and similar signs must be place out of the road right-of-way (behind the utility pole line) and may not be placed on the any utility pole or tree. Also, please make sure to obtain the landowner’s permission if you are not posting a sign on your own property. This applies to both developed and undeveloped property. Signs found in violation will be removed by the Village.
As we approach spring and summer clean up, here are few reminders. All parcels of land which have a single family dwelling and all lots in a recorded subdivision must be maintained so that weeds, grass, brush, vines, briars, and the like are kept below ten (10) inches. Any growth over ten inches is in violation of Village Codified Ordinance 945. Also, litter including but not limited to rubbish, cans, parts of automobiles, tires and anything else of an unsightly or unsanitary nature is not permissible. Properties cannot have the appearance of a junk yard or automotive graveyard, nor have accumulated piles or scatterings of unused or discarded materials. These types of things are considered prohibited uses and are in violation of Village Codified Ordinance 1135.05.
Fire Department
Just a reminder to anyone considering doing any open burning. Before You Light It: Know Ohio’s Open Burning Regulations, please go to the following link and check the EPA Guidelines. EPA Burning Regulations
Road Department
The Village will be holding the scrap tire collection on June 12 thru June 16 at the road department between the hours of 7:00 am and 3:00 pm. There is a limit of 6 tires per household. Tires must have no rims on them, we are not accepting semi truck tires, tractor tires or commercial tires.
We would like to thank Geauga Trumbull Solid Waste District for their help with funding and assistance with this program.
Village Parks
Please be considerate when walking your dog. You must clean up after your dog when in the Village Park. Our children, who play soccer, baseball, and softball at our Village Park, do not deserve to play in an area scattered with dog waste. Thank you!
Any person not cleaning up after their animal would be guilty of Section 949.12 of Village Codified Ordinances.
Police Department
A new distracted driving law will take effect April 4, 2023. This law gives officers probable cause to stop any driver who is witnessed illegally using their cell phones or other electronic devices. A driver cannot hold a cell phone in their hand, cannot talk on speaker phone, cannot use a portion of the body to support that device and talk on the phone and cannot engage in any manual input – no texting and no entering a phone number.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that approximately 3,000 people are killed in crashes involving a distracted driver each year. For example, in 2015, approximately 3,526 deaths were due to distracted driving. One in five of those who died in such crashes were not in vehicles. They were walking, riding bikes or outside a vehicle. According to the CDC, at 55 miles per hour, sending or reading a text is like driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed. Drivers need to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. Please note that there are 3 kinds of distractions: visual — taking your eyes off the road; manual — taking your hands off the wheel; and cognitive — taking your mind off driving. Any one of such distractions can endanger the driver, passengers, and others on the road.
PLEASE THINK TWICE BEFORE USING YOUR CELL PHONE AND BECOMING A DISTRACTED DRIVER! AVOID ALL WAYS IN WHICH YOUR FOCUS IS TAKEN AWAY FROM THE ROAD. YOUR LIFE AND THE LIVES OF OTHERS ON OR NEAR THE ROAD MIGHT DEPEND ON IT.
Utility Department
BILL PAYMENT – PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
- When possible, submit the payment stub with bill payment for proper account posting.
- Do NOT postdate checks. Postdated checks will be returned to you. Payments are required to be posted the day of receipt.
- Do NOT use starter checks or checks without your current name, address, and check number printed on the check.
- Use only blue or black ink & make sure the check is fully filled out. Incomplete checks will be returned.
- Money orders require a signature on them as well as an account identifier. An account number or service address is REQUIRED to properly post the payment.
- If using online bill-pay, the water account number is REQUIRED to be on the payment to ensure accurate account credit.
PLEASE keep the Utility Department updated as to proper contact information, especially a primary phone number as it is the first line of contact to reach you about a potential leak which can quickly raise water & sewer bills!
Joint account? If you are married, you can add your spouse to the account. This would prevent them from having to close out your account & open a new one in the event of your death. Forms are available in the Utility Department office. PLEASE NOTE: Accounts can only be in the property owner’s name. If a water bill is NOT in the name of the property owner, it must be corrected immediately!
The CodeRED one call system is used to notify residents of a boil warning. Every person in the mapped area whose number is in the system will be called. To register, go to lordstown.com & select the CodeRED logo at the bottom of the home page. Do NOT delay registering your phone number & address in the CodeRED data base.
Verify the water consumption represented on your water bill at least once a year. If questioning a billed amount, confirm the present reading on the bill to the reading on the water meter (typically in the basement). If you have any questions on how to do this, call the Utility Department. Also remember: if a lot of water is used outside for sprinklers, animals, or a swimming pool, you can purchase a sewer deduction meter which will reduce your sewer bill by the amount of water it registers. Sewer deduction meters are sold at cost through the Utility Department.
TO DISCOVER OR CHECK FOR WATER LEAKS:
- Locate the water meter.
- Read the meter twice – once at the end of the day after water usage is done & again first thing in the morning before water usage begins again.
- Subtract the first reading from the second to determine if any water leaked overnight. If there is a difference, look for the leak & repair it immediately.
- Shut off every faucet in the premises & watch the meter dial. If, when all openings are closed, the meter dial moves around, there is a leak somewhere in your plumbing. The speed of the meter dial movement will indicate whether the leak is large or small.
- To check a toilet for leaks – add food coloring to the water in the tank, wait 15 minutes to see if coloring appears in the bowl. If coloring is in the bowl without flushing, that means there is a leak.
In just 3 months, a continuous leak wastes an incredible amount of water. A 1/16” stream of water would equal 74,000 gallons! The current cost is $5.75 per 1,000 gallons.
Backflow Prevention
Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 3745-95 requires the public water supplier to protect the public water system from cross-connections and prevent backflow situations. The Utility Department must conduct cross-connection control inspections on the water customer’s property to evaluate hazards. Service will be denied or discontinued, after reasonable notice to the occupant, IF: (1) Any required backflow preventer is not installed, tested & maintained in an acceptable manner; (2) any required backflow preventer has been removed or by-passed; (3) an unprotected cross-connection exists on the premises; OR (4) Lordstown Utility Department personnel, or an authorized representative, is denied entry to determine compliance with backflow requirements. More information can be found at lordstown.com, under the Utility Department tab, within the links identified as: “Water Rules and Regulations Governing Water Use and Service” and “Backflow Prevention and Cross Connection Control Brochure.” The annual test & maintenance report for backflow prevention assemblies must be completely filled out & legible. Service providers should fill out & attach a maintenance tag to each device.
Sanitary Sewer
Every Lordstown resident has a role in keeping the Village’s main & private sewer lines clean & clear of blockages. Dispose of the following items in a trash can, NOT in the sanitary sewer system:
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- Diapers · Flushable wipes, cleaning wipes and facial wipes
- Hair · Yard waste such as sand, soil or mud
- Rags or Shop Towels · Garage waste products such as oil, grease, gasoline, antifreeze
- Fats, oils and grease (FOG) · Household waste such as ashes, corrosives, glass, metals, paint
- Feminine Hygiene products
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These items clog sewer lines, damaging pumps & other equipment which are expensive to fix, & cause raw sewage to overflow into homes, businesses, & local water ways. Think trash—not toilets!
Keep sewers Fat-Free!
When fats, oils & grease (FOG) make their way into sewer lines, they can cause sewage overflows & backups in homes & neighborhoods, potential contact with disease-causing organisms & an increase in operation & maintenance costs. This contributes to increased expense, greater inconvenience & higher sewer bills.
DO:
- Avoid release of hair into drains of showers, bath tubs, and wash basins.
- Clean vents annually (leading from toilets) located on the roof. It is an identifiable 2” pipe on the roof. Failure to clean vents may result in stoppages, causing dangerous sewer line gases to back up into a residence.
- Scrape grease & food residue from dishes & pans into a garbage bag. This reduces grease build-up in all sewer lines!
DO NOT:
- Pour household grease into sinks, garbage disposal, or other drains. This is one of the major contributors to sewer stoppages.
- Flush diapers, wipes, feminine hygiene products, rags, newspapers or paper towels down toilets.
TO UNCLOG DRAINS naturally:
Pour 1/4 cup of baking soda down the drain followed by
1/2 cup of white vinegar
Follow a few minutes later with boiling water
Pour boiling water down the drains weekly to prevent clogs.
Trash
Under the new contract with Republic Services, effective April 1, 2023, residential curb side trash service is $18.50 a month. If you rent the trash cart, it is an additional $2.50 a month per cart. Trash bags are $25.00 a bundle for 10 bags.