Brimfield Trustee Organizational Meeting Sets New Schedule, Committee Seats, And JED Finance Fix

BRIMFIELD TOWNSHIP – Brimfield’s newly seated Board of Trustees used its 2026 organizational meeting to reshuffle leadership roles, move regular meetings to evenings, and begin untangling a financing problem involving joint economic development district (JED) funds. The Brimfield trustee organizational meeting on Jan. 2, 2026, opened with routine housekeeping but quickly turned substantive as the board debated public access to meetings, confirmed a long list of committee appointments, and heard a detailed explanation of how past spending from JED maintenance and improvement funds must now be corrected. Online township records confirm the meeting as the Board of Trustees Organizational Meeting – Jan. 2, 2026 , with trustees Chairman Nic Coia, Vice Chairman Kevin Scott and Trustee Sue Fields present at Brimfield Town Hall, 1333 Tallmadge Road. The board’s current roster and liaison assignments are shown on the township website’s Board of Trustees page, which now lists Coia as chairman, Scott as vice chairman, and Fields as a trustee and zoning liaison, among other roles. Board of Trustees | Brimfield Township, OH Leadership Votes And Liaison Assignments After approving the amended agenda, trustees moved into their annual leadership selections. Chairman: Trustee Nic Coia was nominated and unanimously approved as chairman of the Board of Trustees. Vice Chairman: Trustee Kevin Scott was unanimously approved as vice chairman . Police Liaison: Coia will continue as police department liaison . Fire Liaison: Scott was named fire department liaison . Road Department Liaison: Scott will also serve as road department liaison . Cemetery Liaison: Trustee Sue Fields will remain cemetery liaison . Administration Liaison: After discussion about workload and staff changes, Coia was appointed administration liaison , covering non‑zoning administrative offices such as parks and the main township office. Zoning Liaison: Fields will serve as zoning liaison , reflecting how heavily zoning issues have dominated township business in recent years. The decision to separate administration and zoning was framed as both a workload and policy issue, with Scott calling zoning a “hot item” that warrants its own dedicated attention. Residents Challenge Campaign Finance Narrative Two residents, Dan Mars and Bill Mars , addressed the board during public comment, challenging a December 12 Facebook post by Trustee Coia and a comment by Vice Chairman Scott regarding campaign contributions in the recent trustee election. Dan Mars , a former Brimfield Township trustee candidate, argued that online posts about donor influence painted an incomplete and potentially misleading picture of his campaign finances. He specifically criticized a post suggesting that outside business interests might have undue sway over candidates, and said all of his donors—including members of the DeHoff family—had no promises or expectations of favorable treatment. Mars also contrasted his donations with perceived benefits and endorsements for other candidates, asserting that if his contributions were suspect under that logic, similar scrutiny should apply to other relationships, including local business support and social media backing. Mars closed by saying he takes his integrity “very seriously” and called for a public apology “as public as the original post,” adding that Coia had blocked him from viewing the original content. Bill Mars then took the podium, gave his address, and formally yielded his time back to Dan so he could complete his comments. Trustee Coia briefly responded that he had declined a similar outside company donation and re‑stated his concerns about development interests connected to variances and JED‑related projects. The board otherwise kept to its practice of limited back‑and‑forth during public comment. Evening Meetings Approved After Debate One of the more consequential decisions for residents was the shift to evening trustee meetings . Trustees approved a 2026 schedule of regular trustee meetings on the first and third Mondays of each month at 7 p.m. , replacing the previous 8 a.m. weekday format. The township’s Board of Trustees web page now reflects the evening meeting schedule and encourages public participation. Board of Trustees | Brimfield Township, OH The change followed a lengthy debate: Scott said residents had told him they could not attend morning meetings without using vacation or personal days and that evening meetings were more consistent with the “average family” work schedule. Coia noted Brimfield had been one of the few Portage County townships still meeting in the mornings and argued that evening meetings expand opportunity for public engagement, even if attendance does not spike immediately. Fields opposed moving all meetings to evenings, citing concerns about the strain on department heads and the township administrator, who already work full daytime schedules and frequently attend nighttime zoning and other board meetings.