SALEM — The owner of the Perry Township property where the infamous Cry Baby Bridge is located off of Egypt Road wants police to start charging the trespassers.

“A lot of people just go down there partying,” Randall Howells said. “They think it’s a public park. It’s not. It’s private property.”

According to legend, the bridge actually located on the now vacated West Pine Lake Road is supposedly haunted by a crying baby, but a check on the Internet shows that there are bridges in multiple states with this name, including a few more in Ohio.

The legend is even a stop on the haunted trolley tour for the Salem Historical Society.

For Howells, though, it’s a nightmare — people tearing down his Private Property/No Trespassing signs, painting graffiti all over the bridge and surrounding area with all types of profanity, dumping all types of animals on the property and dumping trash which he has to clean up.

“Make some arrests, do something,” he pleaded to trustees Monday.

Howells submitted a letter detailing how the bridge was abandoned by the Columbiana County Engineer in 1985 at the request of then property owner Richard Johnson. He said there are gates which he padlocks, and the utility company has access, along with the farmers who work the hay field and hunters who have Howells’ written permission to be there. He said too many others feel they have a right to do as they please there.

He said he doesn’t want police to just chase the trespassers and offenders away. He wants them arrested and prosecuted. He even wrote that an appropriate punishment might be to make them clean up along township roads.

His friend, Tony Fall, said he has set up trail cameras on the property and so has Howells, showing activity all hours, and they all get shot or destroyed. Fall had pictures showing all the graffiti.

Trustee Jim Armeni asked if anyone can be identified in the trail cam footage.

Trustee Chair Steve Bailey asked if that bridge is completely on his property and in the township, noting the close proximity of Goshen Township, but Howells said he checked with the county engineer’s office and the bridge is in Perry Township.

Trustees said they’ll talk to Police Chief Mike Emigh about the situation at the bridge, but also asked Howells to call police immediately if he sees someone trespassing or finds anything identifying in the trash or any video footage.

Howells said people need to be aware that it’s private property.

“It’s not their back yard, it’s mine,” he said.

In other business, trustees approved an amended agreement with the city of Salem which allows the township to dump tree branches and leaves at the city dump site, now at a price of $3,000 per year. The township had been paying $600 per year, but Armeni said he talked with Salem City Service/Safety Director Joe Cappuzzello who told him about the increased costs for the city to grind down the materials and get rid of them.

Trustees also appointed Brian Toothman to fill the spot of Jim Drotleff on the Zoning Appeals Board which expires Jan. 5, 2026 and corrected the remaining terms for members of the Zoning Appeals Board. Those terms include, Ron Poage, Jan. 3, 2022, Dan Bowers, Jan. 2, 2023, Jim Newman, Jan. 1, 2024 and Wayne Walton, Jan. 6, 2025.

The trustees met in executive session regarding a property purchase, but planned to take no action.

The next meeting will be 4 p.m. Sept. 13.