Before wrapping things up for the day we want to wish each and everyone of you a Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Year.
In a few short hours we'll be starting a new decade and it will be year 2010. Doesn't seem that long ago that everyone was worried about what effect the computers would have to start the 21st Century. Ten years later we're still kicking.
Enjoy your celebrations and please be safe. There's a lot more living to do.
ole nib
Thursday, December 31, 2009
The Wellsville Bus
Back in the days before everyone had cars many Wellsville residents depended on bus transportation. Some of them use to catch the Wellsville bus to travel to East Liverpool to work, shop or visit friends and family. We're not sure where the Wellsville bus originated but we believe it was one of two or three buses that make continual loops between the ville, East Liverpool & Midland. Many used the bus just to get from one end of town to the other. We remember riding on these buses, maybe even this one pictured here. The fare was something like 10 cents. It was something like a quarter to ride all the way to the big city up the river.
The driver in this undated photo is Ike Call. He worked for the Valley Motor Transit company and his bus was #120. We think this picture was taken in Wellsville at 25th St. & Clark where it turned around to head back up the river. Check out the bald front tire and the brick streets. We're guessing early 1950s, maybe earlier.
Hey Brassie...do you recognize the the neighborhood? Thanks to Jack Call for letting us share these pictures with you all.
ole nib
Steubenville Bus 109
As we learned earlier this summer at the lecture sponsored by the Wellsville Historical Society bus transportation all up and down the Ohio Valley existed. According to historian and author Wayne Cole the bus service was preceded by trolley service that originated in Beaver, PA, and traveled from there to Steubenville and back again. Later motorized buses replaced the trolleys on the same route.
Here's an undated photo from the Ike Call collection loan to us by his son Jack. The bus is on Route 7 in northern Jefferson County back in the days when Rt. 7 was a narrow two lane highway. Looking at the truck following the bus we're guessing this picture dates back to the 1930s. The building in the back ground is the old Children's Home that use to be on Rt. 7 at the intersection of Rt. 213 along Yellow Creek.
The Children's Home was another victim of the expansion of Route 7 into a four lane.
ole nib
16 School - Grade 7 - April 1951
Here's a picture from the Jack Call collection taken over 59 years ago. Many of the kids pictured here went on to high school in Wellsville and we're speculating some went to high school in Salineville.
There are 11 boys kneeling in the first row. The back of the picture only has seven of them named. They are Jerry Swartzmiller, Jay Tice, Larry Miller, Bill Coleman, Ray Spooner, Bob Yost and Norman Dean. There are four unnamed and we're not sure which order the ones named are in.
They did a little better in the second row. From the left is Doris Simms, Elain Culp, Clarice Mercer, Jessie Barns, Helen Wilcox, Irma Johnson, John France, Jessie Buzzard, Al Mobley and Paul Leatherberry.
Teachers in the back row are Mrs. Leatherberry, Mrs. Schubert and Mr. Bratt. The picture was taken by the Don Echert Studios, 102-1/2 E. Fifth St, ELO. Phone number was 1272. That's all the numbers you needed in 1951.
ole nib
Wellsville's Old Roadside Park
Ok hootch2, here's a couple for you...
These two pictures are both of the old Roadside Park that was at the intersection of Route 45 and Wells Avenue in Wellsville. Both were taken at slightly different angles from a vantage point along Highland Avenue.
The black & white is dated July 1957. You can see the roof of the big shelter that contained about six or eight full sized picnic tables on one side of Rt. 45 and the roof of a pump shelter directly across the road. That water pump was great for getting a cool drink of water on a hot summer day. The house hidden by the trees in the center of the picture was a grand old house that sat on the hill side directly behind the Boy-With-The-Boot. The front gate and part of the stone stairway is still there. There use to be a road that went from Wells Avenue up along there and twisted along the hillside parallel to Rt. 45. The entrance for that road is across from Huntington Bank.
The color photo was dated October 1960. Exactly when the picture was taken is unknown. Back in those days you had to the send the roll of film off to be developed and sometimes it took a while to send it. The date is when it got developed.
The big school building in the top left center is the old McKinley School. It was located where McDonalds now sits. We believe that is the WHS Band in the orange coats beginning to parade across the Wells Avenue bridge. We also think that is the American Legion Honor Guard standing at parade rest on the corner. The canons in the lower left center of the picture use to face Wells Ave. They are now located in Springhill Cemetery next to the chapel. They were used in WWII originally.
The park is just a memory now. The only part that is left is the small portion now known as Phyllis' Park. The rest was claimed in the late 1960s when Route 7 was expanded to the four lane highway it is now. Even though that area is a lot different now there are a lot of fond memories for a kid that grew up in that neighborhood.
ole nib
BWD Engineering Committee Meeting
Wednesday - December 30: The Buckeye Water District Engineering Committee held their regular bi-weekly Progress Meeting for Part A of the Salineville Waterline Project. The meeting was held at the new Water Treatment Plant. Present at the meeting were committee members Gene McGaffick and Tim O'Hara. Also present was Board President Mike Ryan, Board members Jack Call & Bob Wines, District Manager Al DeAngelis, BWD Fiscal Officer Sara Crouch, BWD Project Inspector Mark Allison, Dave Sugar of Sugar Excavating, Dallis Dawson & Jon Blair of Dallis Dawson & Assocs.
The meeting started with Route 39 resident Scott Connor once again inquiring on the status of repairs to his water system. The Conner residence gets there water via a pipeline from a spring to a cistern. Conner claims that since the new water line was installed rain water now pools over his pipes allowing ground water to enter his cistern. Conner claims before the installation of the new line he & his mother never experienced this problem.
At the last regular Board meeting, on December 17, Conner was advised the area would be checked and if found to be caused by the new pipeline installation BWD will correct the problem. The new line goes under Conner's pipe. BWD Inspector Allison said the area has been checked and a culvert will be installed to divert ground water even though it is questionable that the new installation is causing the problem. Dave Sugar added that dirt will be mounded up on both sides to add an extra measure to direct ground water away from the area. With the holidays, work schedules and now ODOT, work has not been able to get started on the area.
Dave Sugar reported there is not a lot new since the last meeting. Some of the directional drilling has been held up because of the holidays. That will be completed the first part of January when the company with the subcontract returns to work. Three under road bores are done - two at Steubenville Pike and one at the Southern Local School Complex.
Line testing has been halted waiting on the final tie-in along the "swamp" area that requires the directional drilling. Sugar advised ODOT is satisfied with the visqueen/concrete temporary patches on the road cuts. There is 60 yards of dig able concrete on those patches that will be replaced with asphalt in the spring.
Mark Allison reported there is a spot at Nicholson Road along Route 39 where the bottom is collecting water. Allison reported it is the lowest point in the whole project and a pipe will be installed to divert the water to a near-by ditch.
Cost for the Crews Road extension is $134,893. All plans and costs have been submitted to the EPA for their approval. Once that is received work can proceed on the extension. Allison reported that Madison Twp. Trustees do not want any dirt piled up on the road surface for the Crews Road extension. This is contrary to what ODOT permits and it was thought they feared that scraping up the dirt would damage the chip & seal surface. District Manager Al DeAngelis will see what can be worked out for that.
Sugar advised they are finishing the tap-ins. Some are waiting for the final pieces of the line to be connected. There were 13 tap-ins for Part A not counting those on the Crews Road extension. For Crews Road there are 10 confirmed with another two or three more probably in the spring. BWD personnel will be installing the tap-ins for the Crews Road extension which is nearly 2,000 feet of waterline. That extension will require two under the road borings. Everything is in place for a Southern Local tap-in if they decide to sign on for the new water supply.
Board member Bob Wines advised there is an EPA program that pays all costs for tap-ins for families that don't exceed the set income guide lines. District Manager DeAngelis explained that the EPA program covers everything from the tap-in to the main waterline to hooking up the residence for those individuals. More information is available by contacting the BWD office.
Dave Sugar summed up the Progress meeting stating that except for testing all equipment will be off Route 39 in early January. Restoration is around 40% completed with the other 60% having temporary fixes. Those areas will be completed in the early spring as soon as weather permits. In his opinion Sugar said he felt everything went very smoothly for Part A and the co-operation of all parties concerned was outstanding.
A final Progress Meeting will be held at a yet to be determined date near the end of January for Part A. BWD personnel will notify all parties when a date is set.
Discussion moved on to Part B of the project which is held up by Salineville. At their last Council meeting Salineville officials tabled an arrangement for a paying bills agreement until they could clarify ownership of their old water treatment plant, reservoir and surrounding land. CDBG grants for the project was awarded to Salineville and the CDBG requires a signed agreement from them for BWD to handle the funds. Once the memo of agreement is received BWD will issue the Notice-to-Proceed for Part B.
District Manager DeAngelis explained that once the new water line is tied into the Village all the Salineville property the water district now controls will be turned back over to them. The EPA agreement for the new system requires that the old treatment plant be taken completely out of operation. DeAngelis stated that the only thing they are interested in is leasing a metal shed currently on Salineville property to be used for parts storage. Other than renting that shed BWD does not want ownership of any additional real estate. Except for the waterline everything else will be Salineville's.
Another BWD Engineering Committee meeting has been scheduled for noon Tuesday, January 5, at the Water Treatment Plant with engineers from Dallis Dawson Assocs. The first part of the meeting will be devoted to going over the future plans for supplying water to Frederick Heights. Dawson Assocs. have been conducting a door-to-door survey to determine the number of potential customers. The second part of the meeting will be to take a field trip to the Hibbits Mill Pump Station to determine the best route to tie in the main water line for the replacement of the line into Wellsville. BWD wants plans for that project completely engineered and drawn up to be "shelf ready" if and when funds become available.
ole nib
The meeting started with Route 39 resident Scott Connor once again inquiring on the status of repairs to his water system. The Conner residence gets there water via a pipeline from a spring to a cistern. Conner claims that since the new water line was installed rain water now pools over his pipes allowing ground water to enter his cistern. Conner claims before the installation of the new line he & his mother never experienced this problem.
At the last regular Board meeting, on December 17, Conner was advised the area would be checked and if found to be caused by the new pipeline installation BWD will correct the problem. The new line goes under Conner's pipe. BWD Inspector Allison said the area has been checked and a culvert will be installed to divert ground water even though it is questionable that the new installation is causing the problem. Dave Sugar added that dirt will be mounded up on both sides to add an extra measure to direct ground water away from the area. With the holidays, work schedules and now ODOT, work has not been able to get started on the area.
Dave Sugar reported there is not a lot new since the last meeting. Some of the directional drilling has been held up because of the holidays. That will be completed the first part of January when the company with the subcontract returns to work. Three under road bores are done - two at Steubenville Pike and one at the Southern Local School Complex.
Line testing has been halted waiting on the final tie-in along the "swamp" area that requires the directional drilling. Sugar advised ODOT is satisfied with the visqueen/concrete temporary patches on the road cuts. There is 60 yards of dig able concrete on those patches that will be replaced with asphalt in the spring.
Mark Allison reported there is a spot at Nicholson Road along Route 39 where the bottom is collecting water. Allison reported it is the lowest point in the whole project and a pipe will be installed to divert the water to a near-by ditch.
Cost for the Crews Road extension is $134,893. All plans and costs have been submitted to the EPA for their approval. Once that is received work can proceed on the extension. Allison reported that Madison Twp. Trustees do not want any dirt piled up on the road surface for the Crews Road extension. This is contrary to what ODOT permits and it was thought they feared that scraping up the dirt would damage the chip & seal surface. District Manager Al DeAngelis will see what can be worked out for that.
Sugar advised they are finishing the tap-ins. Some are waiting for the final pieces of the line to be connected. There were 13 tap-ins for Part A not counting those on the Crews Road extension. For Crews Road there are 10 confirmed with another two or three more probably in the spring. BWD personnel will be installing the tap-ins for the Crews Road extension which is nearly 2,000 feet of waterline. That extension will require two under the road borings. Everything is in place for a Southern Local tap-in if they decide to sign on for the new water supply.
Board member Bob Wines advised there is an EPA program that pays all costs for tap-ins for families that don't exceed the set income guide lines. District Manager DeAngelis explained that the EPA program covers everything from the tap-in to the main waterline to hooking up the residence for those individuals. More information is available by contacting the BWD office.
Dave Sugar summed up the Progress meeting stating that except for testing all equipment will be off Route 39 in early January. Restoration is around 40% completed with the other 60% having temporary fixes. Those areas will be completed in the early spring as soon as weather permits. In his opinion Sugar said he felt everything went very smoothly for Part A and the co-operation of all parties concerned was outstanding.
A final Progress Meeting will be held at a yet to be determined date near the end of January for Part A. BWD personnel will notify all parties when a date is set.
Discussion moved on to Part B of the project which is held up by Salineville. At their last Council meeting Salineville officials tabled an arrangement for a paying bills agreement until they could clarify ownership of their old water treatment plant, reservoir and surrounding land. CDBG grants for the project was awarded to Salineville and the CDBG requires a signed agreement from them for BWD to handle the funds. Once the memo of agreement is received BWD will issue the Notice-to-Proceed for Part B.
District Manager DeAngelis explained that once the new water line is tied into the Village all the Salineville property the water district now controls will be turned back over to them. The EPA agreement for the new system requires that the old treatment plant be taken completely out of operation. DeAngelis stated that the only thing they are interested in is leasing a metal shed currently on Salineville property to be used for parts storage. Other than renting that shed BWD does not want ownership of any additional real estate. Except for the waterline everything else will be Salineville's.
Another BWD Engineering Committee meeting has been scheduled for noon Tuesday, January 5, at the Water Treatment Plant with engineers from Dallis Dawson Assocs. The first part of the meeting will be devoted to going over the future plans for supplying water to Frederick Heights. Dawson Assocs. have been conducting a door-to-door survey to determine the number of potential customers. The second part of the meeting will be to take a field trip to the Hibbits Mill Pump Station to determine the best route to tie in the main water line for the replacement of the line into Wellsville. BWD wants plans for that project completely engineered and drawn up to be "shelf ready" if and when funds become available.
ole nib
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Notes From The Last Couple of Weeks
Christmas is over. We hope each and everyone of you enjoyed it. Although we're glad it has come & gone it was a special one for yours truly. Seeing all those children while riding around town with Santa renewed my belief in the magic of Christmas. The excitement, the hope and even the rapture in some of those young eyes was beyond belief. A special thanks to Jamie McMahon, the Wellsville VFD & Nick DaLonzo for having us along. We're already are looking forward to next year.
Also, we would be remiss not to mention others. We never fully appreciated the years of dedication & work the Wellsville Lions Club has put in to their Care & Share. We do now. We fully realize the economy is sour for a lot of folks in the area. Even though, it was a shock to hear the number of families & children they were lending a hand to help. As I said before the members of the Lions Club & the volunteers that helped to put it all together are a special group. Then there is WPD Officer Marsha Eisenhart that goes out of her way to assist in the fund raising for them. The pie making ladies & Deacons of the Riverside Presbyterian Church also deserve a big thank you along with the long time support from the DQ. Also the efforts of WPD Chief Joe Scarabino, Mayor Joe Surace and others at Village Hall all earned an extra something in their Christmas stockings. Ed Wilson told me the Lions had one extra ham after all the food baskets were packed. With a little guidance from Eisenhart he delivered it to a family that could use it.
All in all what we saw with the efforts from a lot of people in the Clubs, the Village officials and just others that helped was very rewarding to us. It made this Christmas special for us.
A few weeks ago the dedication of the new Cathy Salter Memorial was held. Check out Charlie Franklin's blog at http://www.pow-peopleofwellsvilleohio.blogspot.com/. Chuck and young Bud Salter collaborated putting together a piece together about Cathy and the ceremony.
Christmas came early for the Warner family. Ran into First Christian Pastor Troy Warner the Sunday before Christmas. The Warner family have been on pins & needles with a son serving it Iraq. When we asked about him the good Pastor, with a grin ear-to-ear, turned around and introduced me to Justine. His son just got home from that "desert paradise" a couple of days before then. How special is that?
Pastor Troy also told me that Jake Lunders was transferred to UPMC's Childrens Hospital for some more back surgery. Jake is the Beaver Local student that was partially paralyzed in a car wreck going home from basketball practice not long ago. Before this last surgery he was going through rehabilitation at another UPMC facility in Pittsburgh. Please keep Jake in your thoughts & prayers.
We would like to nominate MJ Staff Writer Tom Giambroni & his editors as Grinch of the year. Head line for the Christmas Day edition read "Merry Christmas, your job is gone". Giambroni was reporting that the November unemployment rate for November jumped 0.3% to 13%. Yea, Merry Christmas to you guys too!
The Village of Salineville essentially put Part B of their new water line project on hold last week. Their Council members tabled an agreement the BWD needs to handle the grant funds for that project to clarify ownership of their old water treatment plant. The grants are Salineville's. The Village has contracted with BWD to have them take over their water system. It's the same type of agreement made for Part A of the project. Once the project is completed the old plant will become defunct. We can assure them BWD doesn't want it. In fact one BWD official told me some time ago he wanted to drive the bull dozer when they knock that building down. If those people out there would have checked with Wellsville they would have been assured that BWD doesn't want to pay real estate taxes on land they don't need. What were they thinking?
Speaking of BWD, after their December monthly meeting, I stopped by to say hello to the Village Administrator. What before my wondering eyes should appear but none other than Consultant Joe Lencewicz. Village officials confirmed that they have retained Lencewicz to negotiate with Wellsville's union. In spite of making overtures at past Council Meetings they would negotiate without paying for consultants Lencewicz is back. Wonder when they were going to announce that to Village tax payers? With one Councilman showing surprise to see us we wonder if they were getting ready to violate the Sunshine Law? He disappeared into the rest room with cell phone in hand. Hmmm...
Did you see the piece in last week's papers about the State Supreme Courts response about moving the Wellsville Municipal Court cases from Lisbon to East Liverpool? It's not really anything definitive saying they would not make any recommendations on the the actual move. Rather they suggested Columbiana County has too many Municipal Courts averaging only 16,000 cases. State wide the average is 13,000 with many courts "effectively handling higher case loads". Believe that is a yearly average but I wonder about the use of the word "effectively". The article went on to state that the Chief Justice is "thinking of ways to adapt the court system to today's world and believes in downsizing many courts in the system when possible". From what we've seen of "down sizing to today's world" conjures more negativism than good results. In the Customer Service industry the usual result is ending up in poor customer service and contributing to poor employee morale. It may cut some cost off the bottom line but many times it also leads to a shoddy product.
We fear the same would happen to our Municipal Court system too. You can stream line the court system to where the judges hear more cases but you can bet something is going to suffer. If our judges are hearing less cases than the state wide average that, to us, means they have more time to research the books. They have a chance to take their docket and refresh themselves in the legal precedents set in other similar cases. It means that before they don those black robes they are better prepared to do a fair, professional job for which they were elected to do. It probably means it will save money for the court system in the end with less appeals on something some lawyer later discovers was overlooked by an over worked judge.
JoBob had an article in last week's papers about Wellsville workers stopping a potential scam. Believe that was about the guys that were going door-to-door offering deals on natural gas for your home heating system. The scam part comes when they fail to tell you that there is currently a glut of natural gas supplies and that doesn't appear to be changing any time soon. Consequently the price of natural gas is going to remain low for a while yet. With the economy, industrial use is nearing an all time low and drilling for new sources have increased. The salesman going around town have a smooth line trying to lock you into a three year deal through their company. Think twice before signing on the dotted line.
Congratulations to Julie & Ron DuMoulin, Ferne & Pete Peterson, John & Victoria Cianni and Barbara & Frank DaLonzo. They were all winners for Wellsville's Chamber-of-Commerce Christmas Decorations Awards. If we had known about it we would have had pictures of the houses on here too. A lot of those folks now living far away like seeing pictures of the old home town.
Congratulations also to the WHS Tiger basketball players. Since our last "Notes" column the Ladies put a whopping on Toronto improving their record to 2 & 4. The Lady J.V. team won their game too going to 5 & 1 on the year. The following night the men crushed the Red Knights winning the varsity game by a score of 90 - 50. Three players scored a combine total of 71 of those 90 points. Lombardozzi hit three from outside the arch in that game. The J.V.s also won their match. The best news in the men's varsity game was what they did in the third quarter. For the two games prior to Toronto they let the opponents get back into the game in the third quarter. They came out of the locker room after the half down the river and out scored the Red Knights 38 - 7. Lets hope the 6 & 0 Tigers keep up their winning ways.
Both the Ladies & the Men return to action next week against McDonald at home. The girls play Monday night & the boys on Tuesday. Tip-off is 6 P.M. for the J.V. game both nights.
Ran into Marge Dysert the other day and asked her how long the Chamber has been putting on the Christmas Parade. Mrs. Dysert was one of the founding members of Wellsville's Chamber-of-Commerce and she's a wealth of knowledge on just about anything Wellsville.
She informed me it all started with the Chamber's Christmas Decorating Committee back in the 1970s. It was from that committee that Broadway officially became known as Broadway Park. Back then they were able to get grant money for Christmas decorations if it was going to be used in a park. The Decorating Committee morphed into the Parade Committee in the early 1980s and the Chamber has been sponsoring it since then. The late Phyllis Trasher was also very active in those events back then.
With the holidays there's not much on this week's calendar. Next week things get rolling with basketball games and the Council meeting Tuesday evening. BWD had a Salineville Water Line Progress meeting this morning. Other than that it's bringing in the New Year and lots of football games.
Before closing we beg you to use all caution when trying to keep warm with this cold weather. Too many fires get started using old chimneys that haven't been cleaned in a while. Too many electric heaters on one circuit is an overloading danger and we don't have to mention the problems with kerosene heaters. Please be careful. We want to keep you all around for a while longer. Be safe...
ole nib
Also, we would be remiss not to mention others. We never fully appreciated the years of dedication & work the Wellsville Lions Club has put in to their Care & Share. We do now. We fully realize the economy is sour for a lot of folks in the area. Even though, it was a shock to hear the number of families & children they were lending a hand to help. As I said before the members of the Lions Club & the volunteers that helped to put it all together are a special group. Then there is WPD Officer Marsha Eisenhart that goes out of her way to assist in the fund raising for them. The pie making ladies & Deacons of the Riverside Presbyterian Church also deserve a big thank you along with the long time support from the DQ. Also the efforts of WPD Chief Joe Scarabino, Mayor Joe Surace and others at Village Hall all earned an extra something in their Christmas stockings. Ed Wilson told me the Lions had one extra ham after all the food baskets were packed. With a little guidance from Eisenhart he delivered it to a family that could use it.
All in all what we saw with the efforts from a lot of people in the Clubs, the Village officials and just others that helped was very rewarding to us. It made this Christmas special for us.
A few weeks ago the dedication of the new Cathy Salter Memorial was held. Check out Charlie Franklin's blog at http://www.pow-peopleofwellsvilleohio.blogspot.com/. Chuck and young Bud Salter collaborated putting together a piece together about Cathy and the ceremony.
Christmas came early for the Warner family. Ran into First Christian Pastor Troy Warner the Sunday before Christmas. The Warner family have been on pins & needles with a son serving it Iraq. When we asked about him the good Pastor, with a grin ear-to-ear, turned around and introduced me to Justine. His son just got home from that "desert paradise" a couple of days before then. How special is that?
Pastor Troy also told me that Jake Lunders was transferred to UPMC's Childrens Hospital for some more back surgery. Jake is the Beaver Local student that was partially paralyzed in a car wreck going home from basketball practice not long ago. Before this last surgery he was going through rehabilitation at another UPMC facility in Pittsburgh. Please keep Jake in your thoughts & prayers.
We would like to nominate MJ Staff Writer Tom Giambroni & his editors as Grinch of the year. Head line for the Christmas Day edition read "Merry Christmas, your job is gone". Giambroni was reporting that the November unemployment rate for November jumped 0.3% to 13%. Yea, Merry Christmas to you guys too!
The Village of Salineville essentially put Part B of their new water line project on hold last week. Their Council members tabled an agreement the BWD needs to handle the grant funds for that project to clarify ownership of their old water treatment plant. The grants are Salineville's. The Village has contracted with BWD to have them take over their water system. It's the same type of agreement made for Part A of the project. Once the project is completed the old plant will become defunct. We can assure them BWD doesn't want it. In fact one BWD official told me some time ago he wanted to drive the bull dozer when they knock that building down. If those people out there would have checked with Wellsville they would have been assured that BWD doesn't want to pay real estate taxes on land they don't need. What were they thinking?
Speaking of BWD, after their December monthly meeting, I stopped by to say hello to the Village Administrator. What before my wondering eyes should appear but none other than Consultant Joe Lencewicz. Village officials confirmed that they have retained Lencewicz to negotiate with Wellsville's union. In spite of making overtures at past Council Meetings they would negotiate without paying for consultants Lencewicz is back. Wonder when they were going to announce that to Village tax payers? With one Councilman showing surprise to see us we wonder if they were getting ready to violate the Sunshine Law? He disappeared into the rest room with cell phone in hand. Hmmm...
Did you see the piece in last week's papers about the State Supreme Courts response about moving the Wellsville Municipal Court cases from Lisbon to East Liverpool? It's not really anything definitive saying they would not make any recommendations on the the actual move. Rather they suggested Columbiana County has too many Municipal Courts averaging only 16,000 cases. State wide the average is 13,000 with many courts "effectively handling higher case loads". Believe that is a yearly average but I wonder about the use of the word "effectively". The article went on to state that the Chief Justice is "thinking of ways to adapt the court system to today's world and believes in downsizing many courts in the system when possible". From what we've seen of "down sizing to today's world" conjures more negativism than good results. In the Customer Service industry the usual result is ending up in poor customer service and contributing to poor employee morale. It may cut some cost off the bottom line but many times it also leads to a shoddy product.
We fear the same would happen to our Municipal Court system too. You can stream line the court system to where the judges hear more cases but you can bet something is going to suffer. If our judges are hearing less cases than the state wide average that, to us, means they have more time to research the books. They have a chance to take their docket and refresh themselves in the legal precedents set in other similar cases. It means that before they don those black robes they are better prepared to do a fair, professional job for which they were elected to do. It probably means it will save money for the court system in the end with less appeals on something some lawyer later discovers was overlooked by an over worked judge.
JoBob had an article in last week's papers about Wellsville workers stopping a potential scam. Believe that was about the guys that were going door-to-door offering deals on natural gas for your home heating system. The scam part comes when they fail to tell you that there is currently a glut of natural gas supplies and that doesn't appear to be changing any time soon. Consequently the price of natural gas is going to remain low for a while yet. With the economy, industrial use is nearing an all time low and drilling for new sources have increased. The salesman going around town have a smooth line trying to lock you into a three year deal through their company. Think twice before signing on the dotted line.
Congratulations to Julie & Ron DuMoulin, Ferne & Pete Peterson, John & Victoria Cianni and Barbara & Frank DaLonzo. They were all winners for Wellsville's Chamber-of-Commerce Christmas Decorations Awards. If we had known about it we would have had pictures of the houses on here too. A lot of those folks now living far away like seeing pictures of the old home town.
Congratulations also to the WHS Tiger basketball players. Since our last "Notes" column the Ladies put a whopping on Toronto improving their record to 2 & 4. The Lady J.V. team won their game too going to 5 & 1 on the year. The following night the men crushed the Red Knights winning the varsity game by a score of 90 - 50. Three players scored a combine total of 71 of those 90 points. Lombardozzi hit three from outside the arch in that game. The J.V.s also won their match. The best news in the men's varsity game was what they did in the third quarter. For the two games prior to Toronto they let the opponents get back into the game in the third quarter. They came out of the locker room after the half down the river and out scored the Red Knights 38 - 7. Lets hope the 6 & 0 Tigers keep up their winning ways.
Both the Ladies & the Men return to action next week against McDonald at home. The girls play Monday night & the boys on Tuesday. Tip-off is 6 P.M. for the J.V. game both nights.
Ran into Marge Dysert the other day and asked her how long the Chamber has been putting on the Christmas Parade. Mrs. Dysert was one of the founding members of Wellsville's Chamber-of-Commerce and she's a wealth of knowledge on just about anything Wellsville.
She informed me it all started with the Chamber's Christmas Decorating Committee back in the 1970s. It was from that committee that Broadway officially became known as Broadway Park. Back then they were able to get grant money for Christmas decorations if it was going to be used in a park. The Decorating Committee morphed into the Parade Committee in the early 1980s and the Chamber has been sponsoring it since then. The late Phyllis Trasher was also very active in those events back then.
With the holidays there's not much on this week's calendar. Next week things get rolling with basketball games and the Council meeting Tuesday evening. BWD had a Salineville Water Line Progress meeting this morning. Other than that it's bringing in the New Year and lots of football games.
Before closing we beg you to use all caution when trying to keep warm with this cold weather. Too many fires get started using old chimneys that haven't been cleaned in a while. Too many electric heaters on one circuit is an overloading danger and we don't have to mention the problems with kerosene heaters. Please be careful. We want to keep you all around for a while longer. Be safe...
ole nib
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Wellsville BOE Gets Early Christmas Present
At the last Board of Education meeting President Tom Brophey reported the Wellsville District would lose over $1.5 million is state funding over the next two years if the State Senate did not work something out. Brophey was referring to the gap in the Governor's new two-year budget for school funding that he planned to fill with revenue from slot machines at Ohio's six race tracks. The State Supreme Court ruled that before the slots could be allowed the issue had to be put up for a state wide vote. Consequently there was no way imaginable the earnings from the slot machines would be available to cover the education funding budget cut backs.
The State's formula for education funding dates back to 1933 and relied heavily on property taxes. Franklin Roosevelt was a first term President at the time. Over the years the formula became extremely inequitable and inefficient. In 1991 a high school freshman by the name of Nathan DeRolph was forced to take a history exam standing up. There were not enough desks for all the students in that class and the school could not afford to buy additional desks. At the time DeRolph was using a 15 year old science book that was grossly outdated. DeRolph attended Sheridan High School in Perry County in Southeast Ohio. It was one of the many schools that was a victim of the unequal State formula used for funding education.
In 1993, after much foot work and research, DeRolph and his father Dale filed a lawsuit in Perry County Common Pleas Court. Southern Local was one of the parties in that law suit. In the years since then DeRolph vs. State of Ohio has been appealed four times. Each time the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the funding formula was unfair and needed to be fixed. One of Strickland's campaign platforms was to reform Ohio's school funding but his plan fell through with that ruling on the slot machines. Like Wellsville, school districts all across the state were facing serious cut backs in funding if the Ohio Senate didn't vote in favor to plug the gap.
Brophey reported that dire news on Wednesday evening, December 16. The following morning he received a phone call informing him that the Ohio Senate hammered out an 11th hour deal the previous evening. Brophey related that, in a last minute phone call before the meeting, he was told the Senators had recessed. His contact in Columbus didn't tell him they had just taken a break for supper. He didn't know that while he was conducting a Board Meeting the Senators were busy at the same time.
In a telephone conversation last week Brophey stated that he was "pleased the Senate deemed it necessary to pass legislation the Governor set forth in the new budget." All over the State of Ohio, School Boards were given an early Christmas present with the Senate action. Hopefully a more permanent solution to education funding can be found before a new budget has to be worked on again.
Thanks to Board Member Ed Bauer for the heads up on this.
ole nib
The State's formula for education funding dates back to 1933 and relied heavily on property taxes. Franklin Roosevelt was a first term President at the time. Over the years the formula became extremely inequitable and inefficient. In 1991 a high school freshman by the name of Nathan DeRolph was forced to take a history exam standing up. There were not enough desks for all the students in that class and the school could not afford to buy additional desks. At the time DeRolph was using a 15 year old science book that was grossly outdated. DeRolph attended Sheridan High School in Perry County in Southeast Ohio. It was one of the many schools that was a victim of the unequal State formula used for funding education.
In 1993, after much foot work and research, DeRolph and his father Dale filed a lawsuit in Perry County Common Pleas Court. Southern Local was one of the parties in that law suit. In the years since then DeRolph vs. State of Ohio has been appealed four times. Each time the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the funding formula was unfair and needed to be fixed. One of Strickland's campaign platforms was to reform Ohio's school funding but his plan fell through with that ruling on the slot machines. Like Wellsville, school districts all across the state were facing serious cut backs in funding if the Ohio Senate didn't vote in favor to plug the gap.
Brophey reported that dire news on Wednesday evening, December 16. The following morning he received a phone call informing him that the Ohio Senate hammered out an 11th hour deal the previous evening. Brophey related that, in a last minute phone call before the meeting, he was told the Senators had recessed. His contact in Columbus didn't tell him they had just taken a break for supper. He didn't know that while he was conducting a Board Meeting the Senators were busy at the same time.
In a telephone conversation last week Brophey stated that he was "pleased the Senate deemed it necessary to pass legislation the Governor set forth in the new budget." All over the State of Ohio, School Boards were given an early Christmas present with the Senate action. Hopefully a more permanent solution to education funding can be found before a new budget has to be worked on again.
Thanks to Board Member Ed Bauer for the heads up on this.
ole nib
Monday, December 28, 2009
Lions Club Care & Share Tradition Continues
Tuesday - December 22: The Wellsville Lions Club got started 31 years ago. Long known for their benevolence shortly afterwards they started their Care & Share Christmas program. That particular program has a two pronged mission. One is to provide a generous food basket to folks that struggle to put food on the table and the other is to give at least one Santa present to children. This is the Lions Club 26th year for Care & Share.
Tuesday evening we witnessed the preparation of the food baskets in the WHS Band Room. After 25 years experience they got it down to a very stream lined proficient process. With Club members and other volunteers they had an assembly line going. Tuesday evening they were putting together mostly non-perishables. Delivery day was scheduled for Wednesday. In the morning they were picking up jugs of milk and hams to finish up the packing. They even had one fellow organizing the boxes in zones for the deliveries.
Lions Club V.P. Gary Malone told us funds are raised year long from all around the Village. Darlene & Tammy from the Dairy Queen have been helpful for years now. WPD Officer Marsha Eisenhart was able to collect $500 from other clubs around the Village. They have tag days and donations from individuals. Center Pharmacy, the EL City Hospital, First Christian Church, and the deacons at the Riverside Presbyterian Church are among some of the other donars.
Malone related that this year they had 180 names for the food baskets and Santa gave them a list of 200 children for the toys. It's a labor of love steeped in tradition. It's neighbor helping neighbor. It just one more thing that makes Wellsville some place special.
Thanks to all that made it possible to keep this traditional part of the Christmas spirit going.
ole nib
Youth With A Purpose Christmas Treat
Tuesday - December 22: For the fourth year now Mayor Joe Surace & Pastor Darlene Zanders have hosted the residents of Youth With A Purpose home to a Christmas treat. The home is located in Salineville and is owned and operated by Kate & Dave Moore.
Last Tuesday afternoon the boys accompanied by the Moores were treated to a feast by the Mayor, Zanders and Village employees. Surace got things started with a welcome and Pastor Zanders of the Mount Sinai FBH Church offered grace. WPD Chief Joe Scarabino talked to the guys telling them "if you fail it's because you wanted to quit. If you succeed it's because you wanted to. Never quit. Never give up on yourself."
The feast consisted of fried chicken from Kwik King, pizza from Wellsville's Pizza Hut, potato salad, baked beans and chips. Dessert was a DQ ice cream cake. The Mayor thanked all the Village merchants that made the luncheon possible. Santa gave the fellows an early Christmas present of some video games.
The home is for mostly teen age boys that for one reason or another need a place to stay. Several years ago the Moores decided their mission in life was to provide a place with Christian home environment. They opened up their own home and farm to make such a place possible. With the current economic down turn they have been struggling to make ends meet. The cut backs in funding from government sources was so severe that they had to sell off two horses to eliminate that expense and even had to reduce the number of residents they take in. This is the first year ever they have openly asked for outside help. Where they once had as many as 15 residents that number is now down to eight. A grateful Dave Moore remarked that the folks of Wellsville have been particularly good to the home in recent months.
With the grace of God hopefully they can continue their much needed mission.
ole nib
Thursday, December 24, 2009
The Meaning of the Candy Cane
Many years ago a candy maker wanted to make a candy that would symbolize the true meaning of Christmas - Jesus.
The hard candy was shaped like a "J" to represent that Jesus is our rock of all ages. The candy was made of white to stand for the pureness of Jesus. The red represents the blood that Jesus shed to save us from our sins.
So the next time you see a candy cane take a minute to remember the real meaning of Christmas.
We didn't write this. The missus found it on a package of candy canes she purchased but in all the hustle & bustle we thought a reminder of the real meaning of the season would make a good holiday note. The picture is from Google Images.
Merry Christmas to all...
ole nib
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
WVFD Members Escort Santa
Monday - December 21: Completing a custom started years ago the Wellsville Volunteer Fire Dept. wrapped up three evenings of taking Santa around the area. Last night they tried to cover all the areas missed in the first two runs.
Santa took time out of his busy schedule to go all around the Village & Yellow Creek Twp. to hear what many youngsters are wishing for this Christmas. The custom was started years ago with a deal WPD Officer Jack Gallagher made with Santa. If Santa would take the time Gallagher agreed to drive him around town to pick up "Letters to Santa". It started with Gallagher's police cruiser.
When Officer Gallagher retired the members of the WVFD agreed to take over the duties. In a way it's their chance to give back to the community and say thanks for your support throughout the year. From what we saw last night it was a pleasure. We were invited to ride along and from what we experienced we hope that invitation will long continue.
It's said a picture is worth a thousand words. If that's the case we got millions! We saw a whole range of emotions last night. There were smiles enough to fill Lake Erie. There was hope in some of those eyes and others that had no doubt that there's a Santa. Some showed they were tickled to get their picture taken with the jolly old elf. There were some that displayed some very serious contemplation about their wishes. There was unbridled excitement in a few. Some were tired with a look of slumber and there were a couple with denial.
We heard a lot of requests for X-boxes, Play Stations and such. One young lad visiting from Columbus said "actually, I want a lap top" when Santa asked what he wanted him to bring. There was a young lady that wanted a real live pony. There were two that gave letters to Santa and waited for him to read them just in case he had any questions. One little girl proved she had the Christmas spirit when she gave Santa a picture out of her story book before giving him her list.
We made up three collages to go along with this report of Santa's travels through the area. Two are posted here and one more below. You can click on any of them to enlarge.
Thanks guys for inviting us. We thoroughly enjoyed it. You guys shouldn't get any coal in your stockings...
ole nib
WVFD Gives Back - Part II
Here's a third collage of last night's travels with Santa. We tried to get at least one picture of all the young ones. Believe there were only a couple that we missed. That was because they were a bit frightened and didn't want any part of dealing with Santa in a big red firetruck with flashing lights. Maybe it was us strangers that kept flashing pictures! Whatever it was they weren't around long enough to snap a photo.
Thanks again to the Volunteers. You made Christmas something special for a lot of the visitors.
ole nib
Monday, December 21, 2009
Wellsville Tigers Goes to 5 & 0
Saturday - December 18: With speed, aggressive board play and some nifty ball handling the Wellsville Tigers wind up the night with a win against the Potters of East Liverpool. The Tigers won the game with a final score of 65 - 51 but the Potters didn't go down easy.
Going into the locker room at the half the Potters were trailing the Wellsville squad 40 -25. They came out with the roar in the 3rd period out scoring the Bengals 20 - 8 in that quarter. With 49 seconds left in the 3rd the Potters were leading 45 -44. The Tigers quickly came back but once again gave us a scare in the third frame.
DeShon Pullie took game high honors with 22 points which included three treys. Jalen DeSarro scored another double-double with 17 points and 17 rebounds. Nunzio Lombardozzi had two treys and finished the night with 10 points. The Potter defense was all over Mike Johnston holding the Junior to only four points, all from the foul line. Jeremy Carter was also closely guarded and was restricted to two field goals and an additional three points from the charity stripe.
Once again we were impressed with the jumping ability of this team. Of the starting five the tallest player is 6'2". We have been told there are three that can dunk the ball. We haven't seen it yet but have no trouble believing it with what we've seen.
The Reserves lost a close one by a score of 40 - 38. It was back and forth in the 4th period with the Potter Reserves scoring the last basket in that game.
This game was the last for Athletic Trainer Maria McNicol. With Mrs. McNicol now a gym teacher her duties will be taken over by Lauren Flood. Starting in 1994 McNicol first worked both at Oak Glen and Wellsville. Even though she'll get to spend more evenings with her daughters and husband Tim, Maria told us she was saddened that this portion of her career was coming to an end. We intended to get some extra pictures of her in action but fortunately she wasn't called out of the stands for any injuries. We would like to wish Mrs. McNicol the best.
The Tigers return to action tomorrow night traveling to Toronto to take on the Red Knights. Does anybody know if they are playing in the East Liverpool Holiday Classic this year? We keep forgetting to ask. Once again we split up the collages between the Reserves & the Varsity.
ole nib
Christmas For The Animals
Saturday - December 19: In cold blowing snow the "angels" of Wellsville's Alley Cat Aid Brigade held their third annual Christmas For The Animals. It was held at the gazebo located in the 4th Street Square.
Mayor Joe Surace opened the event and CC Commissioner Penny Traina also offered some opening remarks. We have to agree with both that the ladies are doing a fantastic job and deserve a big thank-you for their efforts to make Christmas special for our furry friends.
The event was scheduled to start at 1 P.M. but some people started showing up at 11 even with the cold weather. To be fair to everyone they were asked to come back. By 12:45 there was a line curling out to the street. Some brought their buddies and some braved the cold without them. Quite a few of the animals that came were wrapped in blankets or where cuddled inside their master's coats.
We can't tell you how long it lasted. Even with Tonda Ross' warm welcome to come inro her restaurant, out of the cold, we only lasted about 90 minutes. People were still coming to get some of the pet food, pet toys, blankets and bedding when we left.
Pictured above are the "angels' of the ACAB. From the left is Connie Carmichael, Ruth Ensinger, Sharon Buswell and Faye Lombardozzi. These are the ladies that mainly make it all possible. They wish to thank all that so generously made donations. Your contributions are greatly appreciated. As the Mayor mentioned we think these four deserve some of that appreciation too. They often dig into their own pockets to help out along with the others. They are part of what makes Wellsville some place special.
ole nib
WHS Tigers Take Two From Western Reserve
Friday - December 18: In action Friday evening both the WHS Reserves & Varisity came out winners againts the Blue Devils of Western Reserve.The Reserves won the first match 45 -28 with Wellsville's Sean Hudson scoring 23 for game high honors.
With aggressive play under the boards and running, running, running the Varsity keep their record unblemished on the young season. Got a little nervous in the 3rd period when the Blue Devils got within one point trailing 32 -31 with five minutes left. Not counting the beginning of the game, that was the closest they got. The Tigers put it away after that winning 62 -46.
Michael Johnston was high point man on the evening with 20 followed by Jeremy Carter's 19. Carter also had 14 rebounds in the game. Jalen DeSarro had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the evening.
Walking out after the game one fan said to us he couldn't recall seeing such a well balanced team so early in the season. It's that noticeable even after only four games. If someone is having an off night someone else steps in to carry the load.
The second collage above is some second half action from the Reserve game. The first one is the Varsity game. The young man with blond hair in the bottom center picture in the Varsity collage sank a shot in the Cheerleader's Half Court Contest.
ole nib
Lady Tigers Have Rough Night
Thursday - December 17: Ball control continues to haunt the young Lady Tigers. Committing 31 turn overs Thursday evening the Ladies lost to Warren Western Reserve by a score of 56 -33. The team has one Senior class member with the rest of the roster filled out with Sophomores and Freshmen. The Blue Devils used a full court press for the first three quarters.Coming out to start the 3rd quarter the Tigers were only trailing by eight points, still in the game. That was soon changed when the Lady Blue Devils out scored the Tigers 24 - 10 in that frame.
Mykyla Tipton lead all scorers with a game high 17 points. Tipton had six field goals and went 5 - 13 at the foul line.
The Lady Tigers fall to 1 - 4 on the season. The Wellsville Reserves won their match 48 -23. Monica Wilson had 10 points for the high in that game.
The Ladies return to action tonight at Toronto. It's the last game before the Holiday break.
Good luck Ladies...
ole nib
BWD Board of Trustees Meeting
Thursday December 17: The regular monthly meeting of the BWD Board of Trustees was held Thursday morning in Wellsville Village Hall. Present were Board President Mike Ryan, members Jack Whitaker, Bob Wines, Cal Carney, Jack Call, Gene McGaffick, Chuck Bibbee and Tim O'Hara. Also present was District Manager Al DeAngelis and Fiscal Officer Sara Crouch.
In the Public Comment, a Route 39 resident addressed the Board in regards to a well water problem that he considers to be caused by the work installing the new Salineville water line past his residence. The resident stated that a ditch that was replaced after installing the water line was not as it was before. Consequently he believes this is allowing surface water to overflow into his well. Board President Ryan advised they will have BWD personnel check it later that day. If there is a problem caused by the district it will be corrected.
A resolution was passed to make normal year end adjustments to the 2009 Operating/Construction budget. A second resolution was passed transferring $150,000 to the Enterprise Fund. The proposed budget for 2010 was adopted.
In the Committee Reports, Chairman Bob Wines of the County Liaison Committee reported on a recent meeting held in Lisbon. Funding issues for pipe replacement next year were discussed and the deal with Salem was explained.
Engineering Committee Chairman Chuck Bibbee reported on the December 16 Progress Meeting for Part A of the Salineville Water Line project. See the report posted 12-19 below.
District Manager Al DeAngelis advised the Notice to Proceed for Part B of that project is being held up pending receipt of a memo of understanding from Salineville officials. DeAngelis explained that the grants awarded for Part B are Salineville's. The memo will permit BWD to make various payments for the project. DeAngelis confirmed that the Permit to Install is on hand.
Litigation Comittee Chairman Gene McGaffick reported that hearings have begun on one of two pending law suits.
For the District Manager's Report, DeAngelis advised they are looking at a new Verizon cell phone plan using cell phones equipped with walkie-talkie. DeAngelis explained that the district gets good coverage with Verizon and there will be no additional charges for the new phones. The phone plan is through the Ohio Co-Operative Program.
The district has received three new distributions trucks which was purchased through the state bid program.
The survey to supply the Frederick Heights area is 85% completed and should be wrapped up within the next three weeks. So far 60 households have committed to buying tap-ins if the water line is installed.
For the Project Report, DeAngelis reported that the Salineville Waterline Project Part A is 75% completed. Pressure testing on the finished portion has been done with no reported problems. All that remains to be done on the project is the portion along Route 39 that goes just beyond the Southern Local School Complex.
Being no other business President Ryan wished everyone a Happy Holidays. The meeting was adjourned at 9:28. Next meeting is Thursday - January 21, 2010, at 9 A.M. at Wellsville Village Hall.
ole nib
In the Public Comment, a Route 39 resident addressed the Board in regards to a well water problem that he considers to be caused by the work installing the new Salineville water line past his residence. The resident stated that a ditch that was replaced after installing the water line was not as it was before. Consequently he believes this is allowing surface water to overflow into his well. Board President Ryan advised they will have BWD personnel check it later that day. If there is a problem caused by the district it will be corrected.
A resolution was passed to make normal year end adjustments to the 2009 Operating/Construction budget. A second resolution was passed transferring $150,000 to the Enterprise Fund. The proposed budget for 2010 was adopted.
In the Committee Reports, Chairman Bob Wines of the County Liaison Committee reported on a recent meeting held in Lisbon. Funding issues for pipe replacement next year were discussed and the deal with Salem was explained.
Engineering Committee Chairman Chuck Bibbee reported on the December 16 Progress Meeting for Part A of the Salineville Water Line project. See the report posted 12-19 below.
District Manager Al DeAngelis advised the Notice to Proceed for Part B of that project is being held up pending receipt of a memo of understanding from Salineville officials. DeAngelis explained that the grants awarded for Part B are Salineville's. The memo will permit BWD to make various payments for the project. DeAngelis confirmed that the Permit to Install is on hand.
Litigation Comittee Chairman Gene McGaffick reported that hearings have begun on one of two pending law suits.
For the District Manager's Report, DeAngelis advised they are looking at a new Verizon cell phone plan using cell phones equipped with walkie-talkie. DeAngelis explained that the district gets good coverage with Verizon and there will be no additional charges for the new phones. The phone plan is through the Ohio Co-Operative Program.
The district has received three new distributions trucks which was purchased through the state bid program.
The survey to supply the Frederick Heights area is 85% completed and should be wrapped up within the next three weeks. So far 60 households have committed to buying tap-ins if the water line is installed.
For the Project Report, DeAngelis reported that the Salineville Waterline Project Part A is 75% completed. Pressure testing on the finished portion has been done with no reported problems. All that remains to be done on the project is the portion along Route 39 that goes just beyond the Southern Local School Complex.
Being no other business President Ryan wished everyone a Happy Holidays. The meeting was adjourned at 9:28. Next meeting is Thursday - January 21, 2010, at 9 A.M. at Wellsville Village Hall.
ole nib
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Wellsville Board of Education Meeting
Wednesday - December 16: The regular monthly meeting of the BOE was held Wednesday evening in the Superintendent's Office. All Board members were present along with Superintendent Rich Bereschek, Treasurer Colleen Wickham, Board member-elect Bill Miller and two students from Mr. Meek's Government Studies class.
For the Financial Report, Wickham reported the General Fund has a $2.7 million balance as of November 30. Expenditures for November was $567,456 with receipts at $505, 108. Mrs. Wickham stated interest rates continue to be low. Interest on investments was $4,489 for November with year-to-date interest earned totalling $23,318. Out of the budget $557,391 was set aside for new text book purchases and another $487,781 for Capital Outlays.
For Legislative Updates, President Tom Brophey reported on State Senate Bill 318. Brophey stated the Wellsville School District stands to lose $1,543,759 in funding in the next two years if the Ohio Senate doesn't work out a compromise with the Governor's proposed budget and the legislation in House Bill 1. The deadline is December 31 for the Senators to get something resolved. Brophey advised he is following this closely.
Brophey also reported that a hot issue with the Ohio School Board Assoc. is the new program for Nutrition & Physical Education. If enacted it will increase PE credit from one-half unit to a full one requiring a minimum of 30 minutes of PE per day. It will require licensed PE instructors to run the gym programs. It will also introduce screening for Body Mass Index for the students. Bereschek remarked it is another unfunded mandate that will increase the current required two semesters of PE per year to four. For the Wellsville District it will also require the hiring of one more licensed PE teacher.
Mike Cook reported for CC Career & Technical Update that Wellsville currently has 31 students attending CCC&T classes. Sophomore visitations were held last week with very favorable feed back from the visiting students.
For Buildings & Grounds, Mr. B reported that new freezers have been installed in the Middle School. He also advised that maintenance personnel have been busy working over night on a leak in the steam heating system in the Middle School.
For the Good News Report, Bereschek congratulated the Garfield students for their very entertaining performance for the Christmas program. He said both shows were packed and commended Jennifer Gooch & Janice Snyder on the great job they did.
Middle school students have been collecting toys to donate to the Lindsey Salsberry Memory program her parents organized for patients in Pittsburgh's Childrens Hospital. The aim of the program is to provide at least one Christmas present for each child in the hospital's Cancer/Oncology Unit.
Thanks to stimulus funds awarded to the district there are four tutors preparing students at the Middle School for their Ohio Achievement tests. Also, Mrs. Debi McVay has initiated a new reading intervention program for 4th grade students having problems with reading skills.
Middle School Principal Jim Brown has started a new rewards program entitled "Caught Bee-ing Good". Teachers & staff members nominate students caught doing a good deed or service. A name is drawn each Friday and the winner is awarded a personal pan pizza and a spot on the school's Wall-of-Fame.
In the high school the Leo Club raised $400 with a walk-a-thon and tag day for Care & Share. The Leo Club teamed up with the Y-Teens and Student Council raffling a gift basket which made $476 that was donated to Toys for Tots.
Board members approved the annual organizational meeting to be held following the regular meeting on January 11. Ed Bauer was selected to serve as President Pro-Tem for that meeting.
Columbus legal firms Bricker & Eckler, LLP and Peck, Shaffer & Williams was approved to be retained as the district's legal services representatives dealing with matters related to personnel, student rights, school business & finance and other such matters. A resolution to adopt the 403(b) Retirement Plan agreement was passed. According to Mrs. Wickham this plan keeps the IRS happy.
Coach Dave Skinner was approved to return as the Head Football and Football Summer Physical Fitness coach for the 2010 season. Ms. Lauren Flood was approved to be the new Athletic Trainer replacing Maria McNicol. Mrs. McNicol accepted the PE teacher job at the start of the new school year. Jason Carter & John Stoakes were approved as unpaid volunteers for the Boys Basketball program pending receipt of all necessary paperwork.
In closing remarks Danielle Meek said her time as a Board member has been very educational and she has thoroughly enjoyed it. She wished good luck to new member Bill Miller. Meek did not run for re-election. She also expressed her pleasure with the good reports she has been getting on the athletic programs with lots of students participating.
Ed Bauer remarked that the four years serving with Mrs. Meek went quick. He thanked her for her service saying Danielle was a big help with the day-to-day operations. Mr. Bauer also remarked on the potential funding loss saying five or six years ago the district was "in the soup". The district was able to work through it and that is a good reflection on the staff & management employed in the Wellsville school system. Bauer concluded the district can work through it again if the State Senators fail to get a deal worked out.
Mike Cook wished everyone Happy Holidays. He also wished Mrs. Meek good luck stating that she hit the ground running upon entering office. Cook stated that her knowledge was a big asset to the Board.
Karen Dash stated it was a pleasure working with Mrs. Meek. Dash went on to report on the District Leadership Team of which she is a member. The Team consists of 18 classified and unclassified individuals. One member is a "civilian" from the community's business sector. The Team studies various reports and look for ways to make improvements.
Tom Brophey wrapped things up adding he agreed it was a pleasure working with Mrs. Meek and she will be missed. As previously mentioned, he again said that as Legislative Liaison he will continually follow the progress on SB 318. That bill covers some of the loop holes in the Governor's new two year budget that cut back school funding across the state.
Next meeting is January 11, 2010 at 6 P.M.
ole nib
For the Financial Report, Wickham reported the General Fund has a $2.7 million balance as of November 30. Expenditures for November was $567,456 with receipts at $505, 108. Mrs. Wickham stated interest rates continue to be low. Interest on investments was $4,489 for November with year-to-date interest earned totalling $23,318. Out of the budget $557,391 was set aside for new text book purchases and another $487,781 for Capital Outlays.
For Legislative Updates, President Tom Brophey reported on State Senate Bill 318. Brophey stated the Wellsville School District stands to lose $1,543,759 in funding in the next two years if the Ohio Senate doesn't work out a compromise with the Governor's proposed budget and the legislation in House Bill 1. The deadline is December 31 for the Senators to get something resolved. Brophey advised he is following this closely.
Brophey also reported that a hot issue with the Ohio School Board Assoc. is the new program for Nutrition & Physical Education. If enacted it will increase PE credit from one-half unit to a full one requiring a minimum of 30 minutes of PE per day. It will require licensed PE instructors to run the gym programs. It will also introduce screening for Body Mass Index for the students. Bereschek remarked it is another unfunded mandate that will increase the current required two semesters of PE per year to four. For the Wellsville District it will also require the hiring of one more licensed PE teacher.
Mike Cook reported for CC Career & Technical Update that Wellsville currently has 31 students attending CCC&T classes. Sophomore visitations were held last week with very favorable feed back from the visiting students.
For Buildings & Grounds, Mr. B reported that new freezers have been installed in the Middle School. He also advised that maintenance personnel have been busy working over night on a leak in the steam heating system in the Middle School.
For the Good News Report, Bereschek congratulated the Garfield students for their very entertaining performance for the Christmas program. He said both shows were packed and commended Jennifer Gooch & Janice Snyder on the great job they did.
Middle school students have been collecting toys to donate to the Lindsey Salsberry Memory program her parents organized for patients in Pittsburgh's Childrens Hospital. The aim of the program is to provide at least one Christmas present for each child in the hospital's Cancer/Oncology Unit.
Thanks to stimulus funds awarded to the district there are four tutors preparing students at the Middle School for their Ohio Achievement tests. Also, Mrs. Debi McVay has initiated a new reading intervention program for 4th grade students having problems with reading skills.
Middle School Principal Jim Brown has started a new rewards program entitled "Caught Bee-ing Good". Teachers & staff members nominate students caught doing a good deed or service. A name is drawn each Friday and the winner is awarded a personal pan pizza and a spot on the school's Wall-of-Fame.
In the high school the Leo Club raised $400 with a walk-a-thon and tag day for Care & Share. The Leo Club teamed up with the Y-Teens and Student Council raffling a gift basket which made $476 that was donated to Toys for Tots.
Board members approved the annual organizational meeting to be held following the regular meeting on January 11. Ed Bauer was selected to serve as President Pro-Tem for that meeting.
Columbus legal firms Bricker & Eckler, LLP and Peck, Shaffer & Williams was approved to be retained as the district's legal services representatives dealing with matters related to personnel, student rights, school business & finance and other such matters. A resolution to adopt the 403(b) Retirement Plan agreement was passed. According to Mrs. Wickham this plan keeps the IRS happy.
Coach Dave Skinner was approved to return as the Head Football and Football Summer Physical Fitness coach for the 2010 season. Ms. Lauren Flood was approved to be the new Athletic Trainer replacing Maria McNicol. Mrs. McNicol accepted the PE teacher job at the start of the new school year. Jason Carter & John Stoakes were approved as unpaid volunteers for the Boys Basketball program pending receipt of all necessary paperwork.
In closing remarks Danielle Meek said her time as a Board member has been very educational and she has thoroughly enjoyed it. She wished good luck to new member Bill Miller. Meek did not run for re-election. She also expressed her pleasure with the good reports she has been getting on the athletic programs with lots of students participating.
Ed Bauer remarked that the four years serving with Mrs. Meek went quick. He thanked her for her service saying Danielle was a big help with the day-to-day operations. Mr. Bauer also remarked on the potential funding loss saying five or six years ago the district was "in the soup". The district was able to work through it and that is a good reflection on the staff & management employed in the Wellsville school system. Bauer concluded the district can work through it again if the State Senators fail to get a deal worked out.
Mike Cook wished everyone Happy Holidays. He also wished Mrs. Meek good luck stating that she hit the ground running upon entering office. Cook stated that her knowledge was a big asset to the Board.
Karen Dash stated it was a pleasure working with Mrs. Meek. Dash went on to report on the District Leadership Team of which she is a member. The Team consists of 18 classified and unclassified individuals. One member is a "civilian" from the community's business sector. The Team studies various reports and look for ways to make improvements.
Tom Brophey wrapped things up adding he agreed it was a pleasure working with Mrs. Meek and she will be missed. As previously mentioned, he again said that as Legislative Liaison he will continually follow the progress on SB 318. That bill covers some of the loop holes in the Governor's new two year budget that cut back school funding across the state.
Next meeting is January 11, 2010 at 6 P.M.
ole nib
BWD Salineville Part A Progress Meeting
Wednesday - December 16: The BWD Engineering Committee held their bi-weekly Progress Meeting for Part A of the Salineville Water Project. Present at the meeting was Committee Chairman Chuck Bibbee, members Gene McGaffick and Tim O'Hara. Also present was Board President Mike Ryan, Board members Bob Wines & Cal Carney, Fiscal Officer Sara Crouch, District Manager Al DeAngelis, BWD Project Inspector Mark Allison, Dallis Dawson & Jon Blair of Dallis Dawson Assocs. and Dave Sugar of Sugar Excavating.
Dave Sugar reported the directional drilling in the "swamp" is completed and all that is left for installing the pipeline is 800 feet in that area. Tie-in from the pipeline on Forbes Road to the Route 39 portion was being done Wednesday. It was expected to have the tie-in with that last 800 feet completed by Thursday of this week.
Work is continuing on replacing storm sewers. With the cold weather preventing the laying of asphalt temporary fixes are being made on cuts in roadway surfaces. Presently the pipeline is being covered with a layer of concrete, a layer of visqueen and another layer of concrete. When warm weather returns next spring those areas will be revisited removing the second layer of concrete and replacing it with asphalt.
Also to be revisited next spring are areas that need landscaping. For now they are being smoothed over and covered with mulch to prevent soil erosion. In the spring they will put the finishing touches on returning the soil to its original condition and seeding.
Except for the Crews Road extension there are 10 tie-in services to be completed out of the 13 that were requested. Valves and tie-in pipe will be installed for a possible Southern Local complex tie-in. The school complex will be ready for a tie-in service if and when they decide to sign on for the new water service.
Sugar reported that the EPA is satisfied and all complaints have been handled except for one Route 39 resident. That particular one is still being investigated by BWD personnel.
Sugar advised he is still waiting on the engineering for the Crews Road extension. Dallis Dawson advised the plans are completed. Mike Ryan advised he would like to get Sugar's price and those figures & plans to the EPA by week's end. It is hoped to get the EPA approval for the extension before the Sugar Excavating equipment has been moved out. Sugar advised he has already started moving some equipment out. Ryan stated it is planned for BWD personnel to install the tie-in services on Crews Road once the pipeline is installed.
Summing up Sugar advised that they should be pretty much out of here in two weeks. The next progress meeting is scheduled for December 30 at the Water Treatment Plant.
ole nib
Dave Sugar reported the directional drilling in the "swamp" is completed and all that is left for installing the pipeline is 800 feet in that area. Tie-in from the pipeline on Forbes Road to the Route 39 portion was being done Wednesday. It was expected to have the tie-in with that last 800 feet completed by Thursday of this week.
Work is continuing on replacing storm sewers. With the cold weather preventing the laying of asphalt temporary fixes are being made on cuts in roadway surfaces. Presently the pipeline is being covered with a layer of concrete, a layer of visqueen and another layer of concrete. When warm weather returns next spring those areas will be revisited removing the second layer of concrete and replacing it with asphalt.
Also to be revisited next spring are areas that need landscaping. For now they are being smoothed over and covered with mulch to prevent soil erosion. In the spring they will put the finishing touches on returning the soil to its original condition and seeding.
Except for the Crews Road extension there are 10 tie-in services to be completed out of the 13 that were requested. Valves and tie-in pipe will be installed for a possible Southern Local complex tie-in. The school complex will be ready for a tie-in service if and when they decide to sign on for the new water service.
Sugar reported that the EPA is satisfied and all complaints have been handled except for one Route 39 resident. That particular one is still being investigated by BWD personnel.
Sugar advised he is still waiting on the engineering for the Crews Road extension. Dallis Dawson advised the plans are completed. Mike Ryan advised he would like to get Sugar's price and those figures & plans to the EPA by week's end. It is hoped to get the EPA approval for the extension before the Sugar Excavating equipment has been moved out. Sugar advised he has already started moving some equipment out. Ryan stated it is planned for BWD personnel to install the tie-in services on Crews Road once the pipeline is installed.
Summing up Sugar advised that they should be pretty much out of here in two weeks. The next progress meeting is scheduled for December 30 at the Water Treatment Plant.
ole nib
Friday, December 18, 2009
Don Brown Steps Down
Tuesday - December 15: With the rap of the gavel adjourning Tuesday evening's regular Council Meeting, Councilman Don Brown is nearing an end of 12 years service to the Village. Brown did not file for re-election in this year's General Election.
Councilwoman Rosie Goss took a couple of hours off work to be there. She read a proclamation thanking Brown for all he has done over the years. Goss related that when she was first elected Brown shook her hand and said if there was anything she would need all she had to do was ask. She said she took him up on his offer and hasn't regretted it since.
She summed up her proclamation saying "Remember, a man's worth is not measured by the money he has made in his lifetime or by how tall he stands." To her Brown stands about 12 feet tall.
Councilman Joe Soldano presented Brown with a plaque of appreciation stating that Don is the senior council member. Don has been through good times and bad times. He has seen it all. Don is dedicated to the Village and his work for the veterans is second to none.
Brown tearfully thanked all for the recognition. Don said that just because he will no longer be sitting up here doesn't mean he will be sitting back. He will be sitting in the audience and will continue working for the village and the veterans.
We reported on the Council meeting we said we thought it was going to be a rambunctious meeting with all the people in the audience. There were former Village officials, many firemen and other citizens. It turns out they were mostly all there to honor Don Brown at his last meeting. It was an honor he well deserves.
ole nib
Wellsville Council Meeting
Tuesday - December 15: Wellsville Village Council held their regular meeting Tuesday evening at Village Hall. All Council members were present along with Mayor Joe Surace, Fiscal Officer Dale Davis, Village Solicitor Andy Beech and WFD Chief Bill Smith.
We thought it was going to be a rambunctious meeting with the all the people in the audience but it turned out most were there to wish retiring Councilman Don Brown farewell and good luck. We'll have more on that later.
Before moving on to Public Speaking, Mayor Joe Surace recognized former Village Administrator Tom Edgell who was also present.
In the Public Speaking Commerce Street resident Jeffrey Ori wanted to discuss water rates. The Mayor advised that wasn't handled by Village officials and referred him to the Buckeye Water District.
Nina Graves of Commerce Street asked Council about the proposed $40 inspection fee asking if that was per unit or per house. Councilwoman Rosie Goss responded that other than giving Attorney Beech a copy of the EL ordinance for review nothing has been decided on that yet. Graves went on to state that she thought such a fee would "cripple Wellsville since Wellsville does not have that many landlords". She went on to say she has many units but many of those units are empty due to the lack of revenue. She said such a fee would be a hardship to her and she would be forced to board up some of those units.
For Administration Reports WFD Chief Bill Smith said that the call volume is over 170 calls for 2009 which is a little more than last year. Smith noted there is still a little more time to go in this year.
Smith went all to express his appreciation for all the help & assistance Councilman Brown has done through the years. The Chief told Brown that "although you're stepping down as a Councilman you still are part of the Fire Dept." Smith went on to offer Brown an associate membership which is an honor in the department that is not freely handed out.
For the Mayor's Report Surace reported that income from the Magistrate Court for November was $8,760 and year-to-date it was $100,064 which is a new high. He went on to thank, of course the Police Dept., and Clerk Jennifer Soldano who does a lot of work for the Court that includes a lot of paper work.
Surace went on to thank Don Brown for his 12 years of service on Council noting that they have had their differences over the years but there is no end to the respect he has for the man. Surace remarked that 12 years in politics in a small town is tough. He said he applauds Brown and thanks him.
For Committee Reports, Councilman Joe Soldano said the Hammond Park Commission will soon be having a meeting. They have asked him to check into grants for the park and as soon as they meet they will let them know what is needed. Soldano will then check into available grant funding. Surace commented there is talk of putting in an amphitheater up there which he thinks would be great for the Village. He hopes there is money out there.
For the Sewage Committee, Councilman Randy Allmon resubmitted a bill for $790 from LSW that was previously rejected at an earlier Council Meeting. The bill was for jet rodding and camera work for four hours plus labor that was performed 6/4/09. Allmon stated he believed there was a misunderstanding on the previous vote and said the bill was not for water. Goss stated she checked last week and the $807 water bill owed by LSW has still not been paid. Allmon responded that Logan said that bill would be paid when they met with him. With Brown, Goss & Soldano voting no it was left to the Mayor to break the tie. Surace said he believed that if the man did the work then he deserves to be paid. He then asked if the $790 could be deducted from the $807 LSW owes for water. After some discussion it was decided that for book keeping purposes the State Auditors frown on that. Surace voted in favor to pay the bill provided LSW makes good on the water bill. Allmon said he would follow up on that Wednesday morning.
For Legislation, Ordinance 09-15 was passed declaring an emergency to increase the sewage rates a flat fee of $1 per month effective 1-1-10 for the first 3,000 gallons or less. Effective in 2011 the fee will be 25 cents per month for the next four years. This legislation was ordered in at the 7-21-09 Council Meeting. The fee is $6.19 for each additional 1,000 gallons for all five years.
Ordinance 09-16 was also passed declaring an emergency to make adjustments to the 2009 budget. Fiscal Officer Dale Davis said this is essentially a house keeping for financial purposes to finish out the year.
The final ordinance passed, also declaring an emergency, was 09-17 to adopt a budget for 2010.
New Business was devoted to Councilman Brown which we'll cover later.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:22 P.M. That wraps up Council Meetings for 2009. Next scheduled meeting is January 5, 2010.
ole nib
We thought it was going to be a rambunctious meeting with the all the people in the audience but it turned out most were there to wish retiring Councilman Don Brown farewell and good luck. We'll have more on that later.
Before moving on to Public Speaking, Mayor Joe Surace recognized former Village Administrator Tom Edgell who was also present.
In the Public Speaking Commerce Street resident Jeffrey Ori wanted to discuss water rates. The Mayor advised that wasn't handled by Village officials and referred him to the Buckeye Water District.
Nina Graves of Commerce Street asked Council about the proposed $40 inspection fee asking if that was per unit or per house. Councilwoman Rosie Goss responded that other than giving Attorney Beech a copy of the EL ordinance for review nothing has been decided on that yet. Graves went on to state that she thought such a fee would "cripple Wellsville since Wellsville does not have that many landlords". She went on to say she has many units but many of those units are empty due to the lack of revenue. She said such a fee would be a hardship to her and she would be forced to board up some of those units.
For Administration Reports WFD Chief Bill Smith said that the call volume is over 170 calls for 2009 which is a little more than last year. Smith noted there is still a little more time to go in this year.
Smith went all to express his appreciation for all the help & assistance Councilman Brown has done through the years. The Chief told Brown that "although you're stepping down as a Councilman you still are part of the Fire Dept." Smith went on to offer Brown an associate membership which is an honor in the department that is not freely handed out.
For the Mayor's Report Surace reported that income from the Magistrate Court for November was $8,760 and year-to-date it was $100,064 which is a new high. He went on to thank, of course the Police Dept., and Clerk Jennifer Soldano who does a lot of work for the Court that includes a lot of paper work.
Surace went on to thank Don Brown for his 12 years of service on Council noting that they have had their differences over the years but there is no end to the respect he has for the man. Surace remarked that 12 years in politics in a small town is tough. He said he applauds Brown and thanks him.
For Committee Reports, Councilman Joe Soldano said the Hammond Park Commission will soon be having a meeting. They have asked him to check into grants for the park and as soon as they meet they will let them know what is needed. Soldano will then check into available grant funding. Surace commented there is talk of putting in an amphitheater up there which he thinks would be great for the Village. He hopes there is money out there.
For the Sewage Committee, Councilman Randy Allmon resubmitted a bill for $790 from LSW that was previously rejected at an earlier Council Meeting. The bill was for jet rodding and camera work for four hours plus labor that was performed 6/4/09. Allmon stated he believed there was a misunderstanding on the previous vote and said the bill was not for water. Goss stated she checked last week and the $807 water bill owed by LSW has still not been paid. Allmon responded that Logan said that bill would be paid when they met with him. With Brown, Goss & Soldano voting no it was left to the Mayor to break the tie. Surace said he believed that if the man did the work then he deserves to be paid. He then asked if the $790 could be deducted from the $807 LSW owes for water. After some discussion it was decided that for book keeping purposes the State Auditors frown on that. Surace voted in favor to pay the bill provided LSW makes good on the water bill. Allmon said he would follow up on that Wednesday morning.
For Legislation, Ordinance 09-15 was passed declaring an emergency to increase the sewage rates a flat fee of $1 per month effective 1-1-10 for the first 3,000 gallons or less. Effective in 2011 the fee will be 25 cents per month for the next four years. This legislation was ordered in at the 7-21-09 Council Meeting. The fee is $6.19 for each additional 1,000 gallons for all five years.
Ordinance 09-16 was also passed declaring an emergency to make adjustments to the 2009 budget. Fiscal Officer Dale Davis said this is essentially a house keeping for financial purposes to finish out the year.
The final ordinance passed, also declaring an emergency, was 09-17 to adopt a budget for 2010.
New Business was devoted to Councilman Brown which we'll cover later.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:22 P.M. That wraps up Council Meetings for 2009. Next scheduled meeting is January 5, 2010.
ole nib
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Elks Care - Elks Share
Tuesday - December 15: Wellsville's Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks Lodge 1040 proved Tuesday that they are indeed "benevolent". At a mid-day brunch officers of the Wellsville Elks Lodge presented checks to four Village groups. Totalling $5,560 each group was given a check for $1,390.00. The recipients were the WHS Alumni Assoc., the WHS Alumni Center, the Wellsville Volunteer Fire Dept. & the Wellsville Police Dept.
Shown here accepting the check for the WPD from Elks Trustee Larry Mills are Officers Dan Householder & Greg Smith. Chairman of the WHS Alumni Scholarship Committee Randy Young got their check from PER Don Bennett. Elks House Committee member Scott Taggart presented the check for the WHS Alumni Center to Carmella Boyce & Kenny DeLauder. Finally Steve "Buckeye" Davis presented the last check to WVFD members Barry Podwell to his left & Jamie McMahon.
Long the theme for the many charitable works done by this organization all across this country the Wellsville BPO Elks 1040 showed that Elks really do care and they absolutely do share. Thanks to the brothers & sisters that made the donations possible.
Thanks to Haugh Designs for providing the pictures.
ole nib
Commerce Street Fire
Tuesday - December 15: The home of the Danny Dye family at 1023 Commerce in Wellsville suffered an apparent electrical fire Tuesday afternoon. Luckily with the quick response of both the WFD and the Volunteer Fire Dept. major damage to the structure was avoided. The fire was contained to the attic area of the house. We don't know what the inside of the attic looked like but there was no visible flames on the outside of the building. All that was seen from the street was smoke.
According to newspaper reports the fire was reported at 12:46 P.M. and fire fighters cleared the scene by 3:33. Six Wellsville fire fighters responded with help from our friends from Highlandtown. Life Team Ambulance had two units on hand. No injuries were reported.
Also according to newspaper accounts both Mr. & Mrs. Dye were at work and their children were in school. Sources tell me the Dye family are staying with other family members until the house is released and electrical repairs can be made. The living quarters did have some smoke and water damage.
Wellsville is very fortunate. Currently there are only two fire fighters on the Village payroll. Five of those six firefighters that responded to the fire were members of the Volunteer Fire Dept. We were at the scene fairly quick and it wasn't long afterwards that Highlandtown VFD rolled in to offer their assistance.
Our condolences to the Dye family and a B I G hearty thank you to all that responded. It was a job well done.
ole nib
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Notes From Last Week
It was a busy Santa week, especially Saturday. There was a lot of work done by a lot of folks to make it all possible. Often there are not a lot of "thank yous" expressed verbally but the wide eyed wonder you catch with some of the little ones makes it all worthwhile. This young fellow pictured here, at the Gazebo Saturday night, gave me a "Rockwell feeling" when I looked at the picture later. Check the look in the lad's eyes. I get the impression he is on the threshold of being a believer to beginning to wonder if the older kids aren't right. Keep the faith young man. The older kids just haven't learned to understand the magic of Christmas yet.
Tom Giambroni had a follow up story last week about the Army contractor buying German tile for a new school building at Ft. Bragg. According to the story the contract for the general contractor to build the school followed all the bidding rules. The general contractor has the right to decide who gets the subcontract for the tile. Also it was noted that the tile contract has not been awarded yet but the German made tile is coming through a German owned company located in Greenville, SC. What do they say about jumping to conclusions?
County Engineer Bert Dawson got a Christmas present of sorts last week. In another MJ story it was reported that a contract with Salem to supply water to locations in the northern part of CC was nearly ready. That's something Bert has been working on for some time now. Dawson has visions of someday having a reliable source of water available throughout the whole county dancing through his head. It's a huge plus in trying to get businesses to bring their new plants to our neighborhood. New plants equal employment opportunities we don't enjoy in today's time.
County employees will begin making co-pays for their health insurance costs starting next year. It's something that's been on a lot of official's minds lately. It's been done in the private business sector for sometime. BWD took a look at it recently and voted to hold off with the disclaimer that it may have to be revisited at a later date. A couple of weeks ago Wellsville Village officials announced it was something they are looking at too. Spiralling health insurance costs continue to dig deep into budgets all around and yet, there are those that blindly ignore the need of health care reform in our country.
The 2009 Elections have barely been put to bed and petitions have already been filed for 2010 elections. US Congressman Charlie Wilson already has a Republican, Youngstown veternarian planning to run for his office in the May primary. Wilson is Democrat. Deadline for filing for the May primaries is February 18. We don't think there is any Wellsville spots to be voted on in 2010. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Even though he's not a Wellsville kid we still think it is pretty special to have a guy from this end of the county involved in professional football. Beaver Local's Adam Hoppel tried out for the Browns as a free agent in the pre-season and made it to the final cut. Last week the Browns recalled him to be one of eight allowed on their practice squad. Hoppel is related to the Hoppels more noted for their wrestling prowess and is a nephew of County Commissioner Jim Hoppel. Congratulations Adam!
In high school basketball the Lady Tigers picked up their first win last week against Leetonia. Mikyla Tipton counted for 23 points in that 41 - 31 victory. Last night on the road the Ladies fell to Lowellville 66 - 41. Tipton was high scorer with 13 points in that loss. The Ladies are now 1 & 3 and will play at home Thursday evening against Western Reserve. Last game before the holiday break is at Toronto a week from today.
The Tiger men picked up win number 2 with an impressive 96 -55 victory at Leetonia last week. Nunzio Lombardozzi had game high honors with 21 points. Lombardozzi sunk three treys in that game. The Tigers return home Friday against Western Reserve and Saturday they take on the EL Potters in a non-conferance game. The Tigers close out the '09 portion of the season at Toronto next Monday evening.
Some of you may have noticed we shut off comments for the C-of-C/RC article last week. The last 18 comments we received were mostly taking stabs at one side or the other going back and forth. We could see nothing constructive being accomplished by letting it continue. As Heritage Ohio remarked it's a "community project for the whole community". We're hoping everyone can get on the same page and move forward attempting to make Wellsville a little nicer. The anticipated January Town Hall Meeting will give anyone and everyone a chance to air their concerns.
For those of you misinformed about the Potter Players Community Theater group please note the word "Community" in their title. Some members are Wellsville residents and some are not. So what? It is not restricted to Village borders. They are an all volunteer group that have been located in an old church building in Wellsville for close to a year now. They consistently stage plays for our entertainment at regular intervals for a very reasonable admission. Like everything else the economy has slowed down their plans too. When those evasive funds become available they are going to renovate the old Liberty Theater. Mark my words. In the meantime your support is greatly appreciated. In the meantime consider auditioning in January for their next production.
The Covenant Presbyterian Church is going to hold a Christmas cookie sale this coming Saturday. Read in this morning's papers they have been doing this for 12 years now. Saturday they plan to have 500 dozen cookies available for sale. That's a lot of cookies. It starts at 9 A.M. Wonder if they can use a cookie sampler?!!!
Got a comment yesterday on a piece we did on the old Chester Bridge nearly two years ago. It was a copy of an old post card. We replied that the EL Historical Society is a treasure trove of historical pictures and post cards. If you want to spend sometime reminiscing about how it once looked check it out at http://www.eastliverpoolhistoricalsociety.org/. We hope to have Wellsville's Historical Society displayed like that some day. That is the goal of the Wellsville Digital Archive Group. Not to take anything away from our friends up the river but our River Museum is the home of a wealth of Village artifacts and documents you can't begin to imagine.
Hats off to Kat Andrews and the folks at Kat's Kitchen. For the holidays they are beginning to team up with the good people at the New Life Hope's Harvest House. Tomorrow night from 5 - 7 P.M. they are having a free spaghetti dinner for everyone and anyone. Any donations, including the server's tips, will be given to the Harvest House to help those less fortunate. Also with the donation of any non-perishable goods and/or toys for the Harvest House you will get a 10% discount on the price of your meal. That goes through December 20. That's just one of the many examples we're seeing in town of what the Good Lord was trying to teach us in the Christmas Season.
On the calendar this week is the Village Council meeting tonight at 6. BWD has a busy day tomorrow, November 16. Starting at 10 there is the bi-weekly Salineville Part A Waterline Progress meeting at the Water Treatment Plant. At 1:30 they have a County Liaison meeting in the County Engineer's Office followed by Finance Committee meeting. Also tomorrow is the Wellsville Board-of-Education meeting at 6:30 in Mr. B's office. You can stop by Kat's for the spaghetti before that one. Thursday the BWD Board-of-Directors have their regular meeting at 9 A.M. at Village Hall. The Lady Tigers play Western Reserve Thursday evening. Reserves tip-off at 6 at the high school. The WVFD will be riding Santa around the village & Yellow Creek Twp. from 7 - 10 P.M. Watch for the big, red fire truck with lights flashing. They'll stop for the little ones to get some requests in for the big day. Friday the Tiger men play Western Reserve with the tip-off also at 6 o'clock for the Reserves. Saturday is Christmas for the Animals at the Gazebo at 1 P.M. Then the WHS Tigers take on back yard rival EL Potters at the high school starting with the Reserves at 6. It's a non-conference game with one of the riverside bragging rights on the line. You'll have to squeeze in last minute Christmas shopping and baking somewhere in between.
Wrapping up we would like to join WPD Chief Joe Scarabino in urging everyone to use some common sense practices when shopping. Don't leave packages sitting visible on car seats in store parking lots. Put them in the trunk. Seems like smash & grabs peak around this time of the year. When leaving home let your neighbor know when you're going and when to expect you back so they can keep an eye out for you. Leave lights on in a few places and maybe a radio playing while you're gone. It only takes a couple of moments. Don't let the Grinch spoil it for you and yours.
Above all be safe...
ole nib
Monday, December 14, 2009
3rd Annual Christmas For The Animals
You may have seen this in the papers last week but we wanted to remind you of this special Christmas Treat. For three years now the "angels" of Wellsville's Alley Cat Aid Brigade have gone all out to provide a Christmas treat for our faithful companions.
It starts at 1 o'clock next Saturday, December 19, at the Gazebo in the 4th Street Square. There will be a pet food give away plus treats, toys and blankets for the doggies & kitties in your life. They will be passing out the Christmas gifts until the supplies are all gone. It's all free. Even though donations of money, pet food, treats or toys will be gratefully accepted it's the "angels" way of saying Merry Christmas. Your only obligation is to join the fun.
It starts at 1 o'clock next Saturday, December 19, at the Gazebo in the 4th Street Square. There will be a pet food give away plus treats, toys and blankets for the doggies & kitties in your life. They will be passing out the Christmas gifts until the supplies are all gone. It's all free. Even though donations of money, pet food, treats or toys will be gratefully accepted it's the "angels" way of saying Merry Christmas. Your only obligation is to join the fun.
Tonda's Place will be helping the "angels" with playing Christmas music. They will also have hot chocolate & hot dogs available. On a cold day that hot chocolate hits the spot. It warmed us up at the parade last Saturday.
Thanks ladies...
ole nib
Thanks ladies...
ole nib
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Wellsville Christmas Parade - Final Pictures
Here's a third collage to go with the article below.
ole nib
Wellsville Christmas Parade
Saturday - November 12: Finishing up a day of Santa activities was the annual Chamber-of-Commerce Christmas Parade. With over 40 entries it was one of the nicer parades we have seen in a long time. From fire trucks, floats, marching bands to Santa in a horse drawn carriage the enthusiasm shown by all the participants proves that this little river village still has plenty of heart and spirit. Among those leading that theme of spirit was Parade Chairwoman Vickie McCombs. With that always present smile Vickie eagerly agreed to once again to take on the daunting task of putting it all together. Once again she organized an outstanding event for the whole town to enjoy.In addition to the Wellsville VFD fire trucks entries came from Highlandtown, Toronto and West Point Volunteers. Patriotic entries were from the Nemenz Save-A-Lot Spirit of Columbia space shuttle float to the EL American Legion 374 drill team. Band entries included the Wellsville High School band with a nifty marching dance routine when they aren't playing a number and the ELHS Alumni Band. EL Municipal Court Judge Melissa Byers-Emmerling came marching along in one of her Litter Patrol safety vests. Many times the good Judge hands out sentences to the Litter Patrol she organized allowing misdemeanor defendants to perform public service instead of going to jail or pay fines.
Owners of Robert's Funeral Home Bill & Vicki was there in their antique 1937 Cadillac hearse with the carved wood sides. They acquired that a few years ago and had it completely restored. Bill said it is one of the last in the country. The WHS Prom King & Queen and the Homecoming King & Queen was part of the parade. There were ambulances, County & Village dignitaries and floats from most of the churches in town. Chamber-of-Commerce President Randy Allmon served as Parade Marshall. Many of the town's merchants had entries too.
The high light of the parade was, of course, Santa in a horse drawn carriage supplied by Carriage Limousine Service. Pulling the carriage was Alex, a beautiful black Percheron. Owner Rick Steed tells me Percheron's are a cross breed of Belgian and Arabian horses. They make fast work horses. Alex even had his hooves painted in speckled colors for the occasion. Santa listened to Christmas wishes and posed for pictures in the Gazebo following the parade. Tonda's Place had coffee, hot chocolate and hot doors available next door.
WHS Sports Station was on hand with Roger Miller taping the parade. He & Joe Surace did some interviews. It should be on the WHS Alumni web cite in the near future. Nunzio Lombardozzi handled the announcer duties on the sound system provided by Robert's Funeral Home. Trophies for the best entries were furnished by Mike Betz.
Parade Judges were Therese DeFelice, Shelly Abdalla and Sandy Smith with assistant Debbi McVay. Voted Best Float was Wellsville's First Christian Church. Second place went to the Lisbon Community Church and third to the Wellsville Nazarene Church. A lot of hard work went into designing and making those floats. They were all winners.
Best Marching Group went to Gibby's Mini Mart. Second went the Wellsville Boy Scout Troop 29. Best Car/Truck entry went to the Alley Cat Aid Brigade and second went to Robert's with the antique hearse. The "angels" of the ACAB had a PT Cruiser decorated as a giant kitty cat along with other members dressed in kitty cat costumes. Best Fire Truck went to Highlandtown with second to West Point. Best Band went to the ELHS Alumni group.
We tried to squeeze as many pictures in as we could. Hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed the parade. You did great Vickie. Take a deep breath and relax a little. You deserve it.
ole nib
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