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Ravenna City Council approves land transfer

William Kovach 0 Comments , , , , , , , ,

Ravenna City Council unanimously passed an ordinance authorizing the transfer of land between Ravenna and Muzzy Lake Inc.

Muzzy Lake is located inside the Triangle Lake Bog State Nature Preserve, which is a 61 acre plot of land in Ravenna, OH. The land swap would only include about 7/10 of an acre. 

Two property owners in East Muzzy Lake have a portion of their home that is on the piece of land formerly owned by Ravenna. The passing of this mandate allows residents to use the property legitimately without trespassing on someone else’s land.

“It doesn’t make sense to continue to own that piece of property,” Council President Joe Bica said. “When Mr. Cimino came up with a direction on a land swap that was amenable to both parties I think it worked out well.”

Law Director Frank Cimino came up with a solution to make sure Ravenna and the residents of East Muzzy Lake would be pleased.

Frank Cimino, Law Director for the city of Ravenna.

“In the center of their lakeshore property there was this little strip of land about seven-tenths of an acre that reflected being owed by the city of Ravenna,” Cimino said. “They had land that we wanted and in return we gave them an equal amount of land, so I think both sides were happy.”

The city had an interest in the small portion of land but couldn’t access it without going through someone else’s property. Cimino said it was the most logical thing to do and made sense for both sides.

The residents of East Muzzy Lake approached Ravenna about six months ago, but this land has been a problem since a surveyor found out that the piece of property was identified as being owned by the city of Ravenna.

“When zoning in Rootstown required private property owners to have a survey done, it became a problem,” Robert Wiggins, President of the East Muzzy Lake Association, said. “That happened about a year ago, but this has really been a four-year process trying to figure out what to do with this.”

East Muzzy Lake is one of three bodies of water in northern Rootstown Township and serves as Ravenna’s backup water supply.

“The city has Lake Hodgson, which is our main source of water,” Cimino said. “Muzzy Lake is a backup source, so it’s important for us to have access to it in case we need it at some point.”

Cimino went on to say that water is a valuable commodity and cities, like Akron, have multiple lakes and sell water to other cities and townships; so Muzzy Lake is of value to the people of Ravenna.

“This has been going on for about four

 years for us,” Robert Wiggins, President of the East Muzzy Lake Association, said. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am for this to finally be resolved. After figuring it out with Mr. Cimino, I think both of us are pleased with the result. ”

According to the Record-Courier, Muzzy Lake received it’s name from Nathan Muzzy – a member of the Massachusetts Militia and fighter in the Revolutionary War.

 

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