POLAND — It was a historic night at Poland Village Council on Tuesday when a good portion of the meeting was spent on history-related topics.

Kicking off the public presentation was Dave Smith from the Poland Historical Society. He spoke on an Ohio program set to help celebrate the country’s 250th birthday in 2026.

“America 250-Ohio is a program in Ohio to designate 250 Ohio communities as an official America 250-Ohio Community,” Smith said.

He said locally, Youngstown, Austintown and Salem already have applied and the historical society wants Poland Village council members to do the same.

The benefits of applying, Smith said, is to receive resources such as a digital toolkit and an online community platform. PHS President Laurie Fox said being part of the program would be a great way to highlight the rich history of Poland. She said the society is looking at hosting plays in Poland schools that showcase the founding of Poland, among other ideas for 2026.

Mayor Tim Sicafuse said the village likely will file to be one of the 250.

In another history-related matter, council approved the guidelines for the Poland Preservation Society Fund preservation grants.

Council President Michael Thompson gave a brief history of the grant, which started when residents sold the home behind the bank on College Street. The money from the sale was put into a fund held by the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley.

“The Poland Village Architectural Review Board was given the duty of accepting applications each January and must hand out at least one historic preservation grant per year,” Thompson said. “We will keep doing this until the money runs out, which could take a very long time.”

He said those eligible for grants must have a home that is at least 125 years old. The one-time grants of up to $5,000 can be used for exterior projects such as painting, carpentry repairs, exterior lighting, permanent landscaping, walkways, patios, fencing and architectural elements such as shutters, finials and railings.

Thompson said the program was set up to receive applications during January, but because the final rules were not in place, and since they became official at the meeting, the decision was to extend the program for 2025 to the end of February, then each succeeding year would go back to the January date.

Thompson said anyone who wants to apply for this year should do so. The rules call for a one grant minimum to be issued per year. The ARB can give out multiple grants as they see fit, provided the application meets the guidelines. The guidelines and applications are available at Village Hall.

On a different matter, an issue came up with the Mahoning County coroner asking the village to pay for an indigent burial. Village Solicitor Jay Macejko explained the deceased individual is a woman who died from a drug overdose. He said there is an Ohio law about local governments paying the cost of burial for an indigent person.

Macejko said after an investigation into the matter, the woman was found to be living in her deceased mother’s home in the village and was a 50% owner.

“I plan to talk to the county coroner,” he said. “We feel the person is not indigent and we will inform the coroner of our findings.”

Councilman Michael Zembower asked if the village even needs to respond. Macejko replied it is better to meet this issue head-on.

In other business:

● High bids of $850 for a 2015 Jeep and $850 for a 2009 Nissan Altima were accepted from Dwaylan Gibbs, and a 2002 GMC Yukon was declared as no value so it could be scrapped.

● Council approved the 2024-28 Hazard Mitigation Plan after a third reading.

● Council approved a resolution for the redirection of Council of Government funds from Boardman to Austintown. Poland Village had moved its dispatching services from Boardman to Austintown, but the funding was still going to Boardman.