Residents press commissioners on Metroparks dam study as hospital bankruptcy hearing yields interim operator agreement

Residents and township officials pressed the Trumbull County Board of Commissioners to act on a recent engineering study and to meet jointly with the Metroparks board after what they called months of uncertainty about a possible dam removal.

Warren Township trustees and residents described having commissioned or obtained study results from DLZ that they said identified issues not addressed in other reports. Trustee speakers said Metroparks members had been publicly suggesting removal of the dam was a foregone conclusion and urged commissioners to invite the Metroparks board to a public meeting locally so the public can review the study and ask questions before any decision. Concerns raised included potential soil erosion, impacts to the water table, road stability, and long-term effects on local schools and emergency routes.

"This is our future. This is our livelihood," a trustee said, urging the board to schedule a joint meeting and to consider legal or legislative options if local concerns are not addressed. Commissioners agreed to invite the Metroparks board to a meeting in early October (proposed Oct. 1 or Oct. 2) after the parks board has time to review the study, and said the board will reconvene to discuss the report and next steps.

Separately, commissioners and attendees discussed developments from a bankruptcy hearing over local hospital operations. Trumbull County Auditor Martha Yoder told the board she had received a letter from an attorney indicating the county's participation agreement in a Kroger-related settlement was being held in escrow while other parties sought improved deals. Another commissioner summarized developments in a morning bankruptcy hearing in which an uninsured creditors committee objected to terms that gave Medical Properties Trust (MPT) control over selection of an operator. After revisions, an interim agreement was reached allowing a new operator to begin operating the hospital; a final hearing was scheduled for the 17th at 11 a.m.

The hospital discussion prompted some commissioners and members of the public to ask whether the board should have listened to the hearing live. Commissioners and staff warned that ongoing negotiations involve multiple outside parties, including groups described in the record as Insight and Infinity Health, and that public comments by local officials could complicate negotiations. The board said professionals handling negotiations would continue the discussions and that the board would convene separately as needed.

The meeting concluded after the board approved routine business and scheduled follow-up meetings on the Metroparks study and upcoming hearings.