The monthly luncheon was held this past Thursday at Tonda's Place. Chamber President Randy Allmon got things started by announcing that the new brochure previously mentioned is still getting good response with folks buying ad space. There is still time to purchase ad space for any Chamber member. If interested you can contact DigiColor at 1-800-352-1184 for more information.
Allmon went on to welcome new members Tom Wycoff of EL Motor Lodge, Kristie Lasure of Comfort Inn, Brent Haynes of DigiColor, Don Crane of Millwrights Local 1871, Ralph White of Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 495 and Tracy Drake of the CC Port Authority. Membership is at an all time high for the Chamber according to Allmon. With these six new members there have been 10 total new members joining in 2009 alone. That's mostly attributed to the enthusiasm created by Baard's Ohio River Clean Fuels plant proposal.
Speaking of which Allmon related that Baard has signed a contract to begin with the land preparation up on the hill. That was exciting news. There hasn't been much heard from Baard since last fall. Both the Mayor & Allmon said they will breaking land in June. Hold on to your boot straps when that begins.
While on the subject of Baard it came out in the papers this week that the Port Authority got $5.7 million in stimulus money to complete the overhead crane & conveyor system downtown. That will compliment what the crane is capable of doing to making it a more full service operation. With the completion of the conveyor system they will be able to move goods from barge to truck or barge to rail cars and such. The crane is available to all customers but is expected to play a big role in the ORCF construction and operations.
Also in this morning's papers there was a press release from Baard announcing they are going to withdraw their loan applications going through the D.O.E. Loan Guarantee Program in favor of seeking private financing. It seems that the tree huggers from the Sierra Club and their buddies at the NRDC have been filing lawsuits challenging Baard's already approved permits and Baard feels that the D.O.E. will slow down the process with their program. Going through the D.O.E. program is like mortgaging a house on the G.I. bill. You still have to get your own financing but once you do your loan is guaranteed by the government in case something unforeseen happens. By Baard eliminating this step is an attempt to keep moving forward in spite of what the nay sayers try to do. Although I don't have any inside information I have a feeling Baard has things pretty much under control to achieve their financing goals or they wouldn't have made this move.
In other Chamber news Allmon also announced that their Board of Directors approved a $100 donation to the Southern Columbiana County United Way. Also there will be a Chamber sponsored Rabies Clinic May 23 to be held in the parking lot of the old Sky Bank. It will be from noon to 2 P.M. We'll have more on that later. Business after Hours will resume May 21 at AirWaves on Main St. Business after Hours is a purely social event giving folks the opportunity to get acquainted with one another.
The guest speaker this month was the Honorable Judge Dave Tobin from the CC Common Pleas Court. Although it doesn't seem possible Tobin said he has exceeded his father's longevity on the bench. His dad, Judge Lewis Tobin, was the juvenile judge for what seemed to me to be forever. I remember as a youngster my dad use to threaten me saying he was going to send me to see the elder Judge Tobin if I didn't behave myself. It always worked for me! Dave has a Wellsville connection. Mrs. Tobin is the former Becky Paisley, WHS Class of '68.
Judge Tobin went on to give an interesting history on the CC court system and its beginnings. The first legal dispute in the county was held near Wellsville by Magistrate William Wells, our town founder. During the hearing someone rushed in and said they found some fresh bear tracks up the hill in the snow. Seems everyone immediately left to go bear hunting and as far as Tobin knows that case is still pending.
The first courthouse was built in 1803 in Lisbon on the site of the present day county court house. It was a two story log cabin and the first prisoner was a horse thief. Due to lack of bars on the holding cell that prisoner escaped during the coarse of the night never to be seen again. The good judge said that case is still pending!
The second county court house was built in 1817 on the NW corner of the New Lisbon town square. That's what Lisbon was called in those days. It was a brick structure that cost the tax payers around $150. The current court house was built in 1871 at a cost of $1.5 million and was expanded in 1934 as a WPA project. WPA projects are similar to the stimulus program back in the Depression years.
Starting in 2001 they began a $3.5 million renovation program for the court house that was nearly completed in 2007. They began computerizing in 1991 and someday hope to have complete case files available to the public on the court's web site. There are still some legal issues to be worked out before that can take place.
Judge Tobin went on to give us some interesting statistics for the last 20 years. In 1987 there was a total of 1,426 cases which included civil, criminal and domestic. In 2007 the amount of cases heard went up to 4,027, greatly increasing the case load for each judge.
Although each case is judged on its own merit the Judge said in 2008 it cost around $25,000 a year to imprison someone convicted versus $1,000 - $5,000 to place them on probation. Of course there are some cases where being imprisoned is mandatory. This was put out just to give us an idea of the costs involved.
Pictured above is Judge Tobin with Chamber Historian Marge Dysert to the left and Chamber member Mary Heaton in the middle. Next luncheon will be April 30 at Dalonzos. You can click on the picture to enlarge.
ole nib
17 comments:
Hi Ole Nib - I had a feeling you might be writing about Baard this morning!
Yes, Sierra Club members have been active in reminding D.O.E. that it must follow established environmental review procedures before issuing these loan guarantees. I actually disagree with your thought that Baard has everything under control. For a truly viable project, undergoing a review process and paying a non-refundable application fee is not much of an obstacle. If Baard can't get money from a government program specifically designed to fund these types of projects, what bank or investor is going to part with $6 billion, especially during an economic collapse?
Time will tell my friend. Right now I'm putting my money on Baard. This "economic collapse" as you call it isn't going to last forever. The financial market has historically been cylindrical. Like I said I have no inside information but I'm guessing there will be money available to finance this exciting new alternative fuel source.
ole nib
Don't you mean the market has always been "cyclical"?
You're absolutely right... in the past, energy spending (and borrowing) often skyrocketed in the period immediately following a recession. We'll just have to wait and see.
Out of curiosity, do you or any of your readers happen to have any numbers on how Baard and the Columbiana County Port Authority have divided risk in terms of cash outlay? My understanding is that the port authority is purchasing the land to the tune of $5 million or so, using a Job Ready Sites grant that would have to be paid back if the plant never gets built. I'm just wondering how much risk the port authority is assuming here, especially given its other project that fell through recently.
If Baard does come here this town won't be ready. The chamber does not really promote the town or businesses they just pass around a plaque and have guest speakers. There is no exchange of ideas about how to prepare the town or encourage people to move and live here. Same with council...what are they doing? What they are not doing is updating and enforcing codes so our village will not look like the city dump. People will not want to move here when they drive around and see the way nothing is enforced and how some of these people are allowed to live like pigs.
Stickler - Yea, I guess I do. Which ever I was alluding to the fact that the market goes in circles hitting highs & lows.
coldfact - I think you're wrong.
nib
This Chamber is the strongest it has ever been. This is a great group of volunteers for Wellsville and membership is booming. Keep up the great job!
Now that I have to agree with. It's been my impression back to when Baard was first mentioned. I've been very impressed with their willingness to recognize any of the ville's businesses and to do anything possible to assist all of them. The positive attitude they show is a definite plus for the ville. I, for one, am grateful we have them.
nib
Nib:
I am curious. Do you think council is doing a good job and your village is not a pig sty. I agree with coldfact, there have been some impovements, by individual groups of people mostly.
Some council themselves live in and own dumps that should be torn down. Chamber would have a lot more businesses to pass that plaque around to if this town looked like it should. Where am I wrong.
I think Council is doing the best they can with the funds they have available to work with. They are working along with the administration and the Fire Chief on cleaning up some of the derelict structures in town. The biggest draw back is getting funds to finance that. Everyone of them would like to see every street & alley newly paved if the money was there. The list goes on - sidewalks, play grounds, etc. I think they are doing the best they can with what they have to work with. The cold hard fact is that the funds are not there.
nib
have to agree with Curious on this one. The town is just a reflection of its leadership. Every town is.
Instead of just complaining on how things are give us some suggestions on what you think should be done that is different. Don't just whine & cry about electing new officials. You had that chance last November. I'm looking for new & fresh ideas, something that may have been overlooked. Be realistic and back up your ideas with how you would fund your suggestions. There's a cost to everything. How would you have the funds without putting the budget & income the village receives without going into the red for your ideas?
nib
It's always amazing how people can downgrade and belittle the public officials but do absolutely NOTHING in regard to serving their own town.
Are any of you on council or even willing to RUN for council? The same people run year after year and get re-elected year after year.
If you think you could do better than the council and mayor who are seated, put your money where your mouth is and RUN! Otherwise, shut the hell up.
This is a free country and if you don't like what you read then to bad. are you the blog police? People have a right to say what they think about the actions of their public officials. This is not China or North Korea.
I agree the Chamber has picked it up a notch, but, they really don't do anything to promote the businesses in town. There are good things happening, but its true, that is the efforts of certain groups. Council doesn't even show up at the fund raisers or dedication ceremonies or Chamber meetings for that matter. At the Chamber meetings there needs to be a free exchange of ideas on how we proceed to make the village a better looking place and a place new business will want to come to. If I opened a business it would not be here for the sould reason that downtown is a dump. You can't deny it. The owners of these dumps should have to tear the down or fix them up. Look at Ohara's building just for one. How long do the citizens have to look at that. Council knows who they are and could have codes on buildings and enforce them so that we get rid of these eye sores. I also, never again want to hear the River Museum people cry about wanting members. They killed the idea of the Fire Station being painted and made into a hub for village groups, which would have required lots of volunteers which could have spilled over into the museum. That building doesn't even belong to the Museum. Why doesn't council say this can be done anyway. They are so afraid of stepping on someones toes. If anyone else ran besides the ones who are there, I doubt they could get elected. I could be wrong, but they seem an excusive club, that is satisfied with what we have.
Hey "Don't Get It Said" if you have ideas please approach a Chamber Board Member so your idea or ideas can be presented to the Chamber Board of Directors. This Chamber is very active and they are moving forward, join them. I agree with you there are alot of individual groups in the Ville. I commend these groups because they are contributing their time to making the Ville a better place. As far as Council is concerned, a Councilman is the President of Chamber. Therefore, Council is represented at Chamber functions.
COUNCIL CANT DO ANYTHING WITH THE HOUSES ITS UP TO THE FIRE CHEIF TO CONDEM THEM
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