The Coventry trustees gave Cutter Oil the go-ahead for a non-development oil lease with amendments and subject to review for a drilling installation off Swartz Road. They congratulated Cutter representative Dave Palider on his "diligence" in getting all the residents on board.

The board reiterated to Cutter Oil their four requests: a fenced in and screened well-head (there will be a 10 ft. fence), have all lease agreements in hand minus the one in foreclosure, assurances of "orphan well" management for the future, help with the township's legal fees ($1,000).

In other business
In the public comment portion of the meeting, a resident of Snow Avenue asked the board to have a 30-ft. fallen tree removed from his property. Though the tree stood on his property, he claimed the township should be responsible for removing it since the township's culvert and runoff eroded the roots and caused its demise. The resident cited a precedent when the township came on his property to remove a similarly eroded tree that had not yet come down. 

Board Chair Bob Wilson cited the "gray areas of township and private property" and inquired if the gentleman had done anything to divert the water since the earlier incident and did he make any attempts to stave off erosion of the second tree. The property owner said he had thrown broken tile around the tree. Wilson requested that since neither he nor Trustee Brenda Patterson were around for the previous tree, the resident should handle it while they are "researching." The resident requested that the township give him an answer within a week or he would precede with "other action."   

Patterson announced the 33rd Antique and Classic Boat show June 28 and the Annual Boat Parade July 5 starting at 1 p.m. from Leighton's on the East Reservoir. Fireworks will be later that day at dusk on Turkeyfoot Lake. Wilson informed residents that they could contribute $25 for a shell in a color of their choosing to be shot off to honor America. 

The  next meeting of the Coventry Township Board of Trustees will be July 10, 7:30 p.m. at the Township Hall, 68 Portage Lakes Dr.

Meetings are videotaped and played back on Warner Cable.