Columbia Station Government Affairs

As a lifelong resident of the area, Columbia Township Trustee Chairman Dale Rundle has an extensive knowledge of Columbia Township.  He has been a township trustee for the past fourteen years.  Rundle listed annexation as "the number one issue" facing the township today.

"There are four things we can do to help stave off annexation - police, fire, water and sewer," he said.  "Right now we have three of those in place."  A sewer system is a future option for the township, he said.  Several projects have been completed in the past year, Rundle said.  Some of these include completion of a new park pavilion and reconditioning the town hall, which is a century building.

"We've replaced several of the windows, and we're working on making the restrooms handicapped accessible," he said.

Also in the past year, the township set aside land for a new cemetery, Rundle said.  The township also bought a new snowplow; it now owns five.

In 2002, "We'll keep working on maintaining our township buildings, our roads and our parks," Rundle said.  "We're leaders in the county in zoning, and we do all of our own asphalting."

The township also has approximately 32 acres set aside on SR 82 as a nature park.  This year the land will be surveyed, Rundle said, and the community will begin the process of planning the park.  Nature trails will be included, and there isa possibility for lakes and/or ponds to be put in, he said.  "I would say the quality of life here is very good," Rundle concluded.  "We have wonderful residents, and they're becoming more concerned with how things are run, and how they would like them to be run in the future.  To me, that is an asset."

Columbia Town Hall: 25496 Royalton Rd., PO Box 819,
Columbia Station 44028; columbiatwp@alltel.net; voice: 440-236-8802, fax: 440-236-8801; hours
(township office in lower level of Town Hall): weekdays, 9 AM. - 1 PM
Trustees:
John Pojman - 16058 Churchill Dr., 440-236-5843 .
Dale F. Rundle - (Chairman) 15462 S. Station Rd., 440-236-5687.
Ed Neiger - 10934 Mitchell Rd., 440-236-9614.
Intern Fiscal Officer: Rita Plata - , 440-236-8802
Zoning Inspector: Robert Eichenberg - , 440-236-8802
Fire Chief: Ray Anthony - , 440-236-8812
Road Foreman: Robert Rundle - , 440-236-8862
Secretary: Rita Plata - , 440-236-8802
Township board meetings are held at the Columbia Town Hall on the
1st and 3rd Mon.., 7:30 PM (if Mon.. is a holiday, meeting will be held on
Tue.).

What is a Township?

In Ohio, public services are divided up between state, municipality, county, and township governments.  Your local township government deals with concerns regarding the upkeep of public roads, police protection, fire protection, maintenance of parks, cemeteries, and some recreational facilities, zoning restrictions, and waste disposal.  These functions were primarily defined by state legislature, and carried out by elected officials; today, demands for increased or different services have prompted the state legislature to grant Ohio's 1311 townships the authority to fulfill these changing demands.

Three trustees and a clerk, each elected for a four-year term, administer each township today.  Officially they fill their offices on a part-time basis, but they are always ready to meet their responsibilities and put in many hours of work to serve their constituents.  And their intimate knowledge of the community, its needs and its citizens makes them able to offer more personal service than any other unit of government.