PERRY TOWNSHIP — The board of trustees discussed how best to utilize a pair of annual grants from the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) in its meeting Monday.

Each year the township receives two grants from NOPEC, the Energy Efficiency Grant and the Community Event Sponsorship Grant, and trustees Chair Steve Bailey said that the trustees needed to decide how to use those grants so the necessary paperwork could be filed.

Bailey said that this year the township would receive $10,373 for the Energy Efficiency Grant which the township used last year to replace garage doors at the township’s road building. However, those repairs left two more garage doors to be renovated which Bailey noted could be a potential use for the grant. Trustee Tony Ieropoli also suggested that the grant could be used to replace the shingles on the roof of the salt building.

Bailey asked if there was a quote for the shingle work and Ieropoli said that there wasn’t yet but that the department would be getting two or three quotes to compare. Bailey also noted that he wasn’t certain if roof repairs would be a permissible use for the grant funds but that he would check.

“We can use that money either for that if we’re able to or to get the other two garage doors that way and get all of those done,” said Bailey.

The Community Event Sponsorship Grant provides the township with $1,500 each year to be distributed to local non-profits and last year trustees voted to distribute $500 each to the Summer Concert Series, Salem Community Pantry, and Mobile Meals of Salem through the grant.

Bailey said that typically the trustees each pick a beneficiary for the grant, noting that he was in favor of selecting the Summer Concert Series as one of the recipients again.

“In the past we’ve each picked one and we could go that direction again. We’ve done the Summer Concert Series every year and I think a lot of residents go to that and enjoy it, so that’s definitely one I’m interested in continuing so if you guys want to think about the other two,” said Bailey.

Fiscal Officer John Volio suggested the Salem Chapter of Guitars 4 Vets offers a music therapy program for area veterans during which they hold 10-week classes teaching and equipping participating veterans to express themselves through music at no cost.

Other potential recipients mentioned included the Brightside Project, and the Salem Community Pantry, also former recipient of the grant, and the Columbiana County Humane Society. Bailey asked Trustee Jim Armeni and Ieropoli to decide which non-profits they would like to award the grant to so that they could be approved in the board’s next meeting.

The meeting concluded with an executive session for the discussion of personnel matters with no action to follow.

The board of trustees will meet next at 4 p.m. April 14.