Chamber-of-Commerce January Luncheon

The Chamber's monthly luncheon was held yesterday at Tonda's Place on Main Street. Chamber President Randy Allmon welcomed all that were present and recognized new members Tonda Ross, owner of Tonda's Place, and Mark Bayless representing Carpenters Local 171.

Canter Pharmacy was recognized as the business of the month with Candy Bangor accepting the award for that establishment. Center Pharmacy is one of the ville's largest private employers.

Plans were discussed for an upcoming Auction Fundraiser. It was also announced that the Board of Directors voted to donate $250 to a scholarship for Wellsville High School. It will be awarded at this spring's Class Day.

Robert "Brassy" Berresford was the key note speaker and gave a very interesting presentation on the capture of Civil War General John Hunt Morgan and the activities related to that event in and around the ville. The Wellsville Historical Society has the general's sword which is on display at the museum on Riverside. Pictured above is Brassy and member Paul Blevins holding up a collection of some of the Morgan memorabilia that the society has. That's where I got the picture of the Whitacre House.

Brassy also told us they are looking for new, younger members to carry on the work of the Historical Society. Membership is only $5 per year. Meetings are held the third Tuesday of the month at 7:30 P.M. Give it some consideration. If you're interested in Wellsville history the museum houses a treasure trove of artifacts and information.

ole nib

January 29 Personnel Committee Meeting

A meeting was held yesterday to begin considerations on what to do with the village employees union contract. The current contract will expire at the end of the year. In attendance was Committee Chairman Randy Allmon & member Tony Cataldo along with consultant Joe Lencewicz of J.F. Lencewicz & Associates, LLC.

Lencewicz is the consultant handling the new police department manual and will be the village's representative negotiating with the union. His firm is located in Chagrin Falls.

The AFSCME village employee contract is in the fifth year of a five year agreement. The union sent a letter stating that they wanted to negotiate wages only. However the whole contract and all its provisions are open to negotiations. With the village population being under 5,000 State Employee Relations Board rules and ORC, Wellsville is not classified a public employer. That means the village is not required to have the union. There are only five village employees covered under the contract.

Of chief concern with village officials is insurance rates. As of the first of the year premiums have increased 27%. Insurance costs just for the Fire Department last year was $60,000. Under the current contract union members pay nothing for the premiums and have a $250 yearly deductible.

Lencewicz stated you want to do what is right and fair with village employees but consideration must be given to what can be done with village's economic means. As a result of yesterday's meeting a letter will be sent to the union stating that there is no choice but to negotiate the whole contract. All elements including wages, insurance and other aspects is subject to review. The committee will wait for the union's response before proceeding any farther.

In other village news I learned yesterday the mayor is back home recuperating from his surgery. He has a follow up visit scheduled in a couple of weeks.

Tony Cataldo told me the village road salt supply is around 65 tons with the latest purchase of the additional 50 tons. The village has been contacted by three or four other suppliers if more is needed and they can't get it from Mortan through the state agreement.

Zoning Administrator Rick Williams is the temporary supervisor for village employees with Saracco being on vacation.

The police manual has been six months in the making and it is hoped to be finalized in a couple of months. They are working on the final draft with the input of members of the WPD.

ole nib

Blasted Again

Beginning to think the Old Farmers Almanac hit the nail on the head. This past fall I heard they predicted that the mid-west was going to have lots of nasty, cold weather with lots of snow. According to today's ER, so far we have had over 27" of snow. The latest round of calling in sick weather included snow, freezing rain and more snow. According to the weather forecasters they say the temperatures for the next week will not allow the snow & ice to melt away anytime soon. With the paucity of road salt our highways are starting to look like Conestoga trails with two ruts on the surface. This latest blast with the freezing rain building up ice on power lines a lot of folks lost electricity.

Personally I wish it would all just go away. If I didn't have to work I think I would just hibernate until the spring thaw.

Think spring...

ole nib

Jo Bob

Here's MJ reporter Jo Ann Bobby Gilbert that now covers the ville. At the last council meeting I heard her tell a councilman that she does indeed cover her beat for both our local papers. That was an economic move by the company that owns both the MJ & the ER.

According to last Sunday's paper if you have a story or announcement you can contact Jo Ann at 330-424-9541, Ext. 289. She is pictured here as Bonnie Berresford is making a point at the Chamber-of-Commerce luncheon held today at Tonda's place.

Welcome back to the ville Jo Ann. Glad to have ya...

ole nib

Whitacre House

Finally got a good picture of the Whitacre House thanks to Wellsville Historical Society President "Brassy" Berresford. This is a Grace Burford sketch that appears in Edgar Davidson's book. The picture in the book is too small to reproduce. The museum has the original sketch.

The Whitacre House was located where the old Potters Bank & Trust now sits at 4th & Main. No less than three U.S. Presidents stopped and spoke there, the most notable being Abraham Lincoln while en route from Illinois to Washington for his first inauguration in 1861. Confederate raider General John Hunt Morgan and his men that were captured out near Lisbon was housed there after they were taken into custody in 1863. Some time between 1895 and 1900 it was completely destroyed by fire. It was after that the land was sold to a banking interest.

The Whitacre House was a hotel. It faced the river and the railroad tracks which were both very important to the ville's beginnings.

ole nib

January 23 Special Council Meeting

Yesterday they held a Special Council Meeting to take care of two orders of business. It's called special because it was not a regularly scheduled meeting. It was announced in Friday's MJ. All members were present except for Joe Soldano. Nothing was said but I'm presuming he's still hurting from his unfortunate fall the other night. By a vote of those present Soldano was excused. With the mayor being out of town John McMahon got his first taste of being Pro-tem. He appeared to me to be a little nervous at first but settled in and did well.

The first order of business was the consideration and voting on the mayor's selection for the new Animal Control Officer. By a vote of 4 - 1 Leslie Dean was approved for the job. Don Brown cast the only negative vote stating he still feels the animal control duties should be given to the County Office. Mr. Brown voted the same way and for the same reasons the last time this job was on the agenda.

From this morning's papers it was reported that Ms. Dean was later sworn in and hit the ground running. When she was leaving Village Hall yesterday she saw a small dog running loose. She returned it to its home across the street and advised the owners the dog needed to be confined. Afterward she checked in at the village dog pound and conferred with the St. Francis Animal folks that maintain the place on a volunteer basis. She even pitched in unloading some donated pet food before leaving. From what I understand she already has established a working relationship with the St. Francis folks that will be a big benefit in her job performance. Ms. Dean has a cell phone that was reported as saying she will have with her at all times. If you have any animal control problems you can contact her at 330-383-0225.

The other order of business taken care of yesterday was a request from WFD Chief Bill Smith to re-instate veteran firefighter Greg Stanley as a paid per call volunteer for the WVFD. That was approved by a vote of 5 - 0.

It was announced there will a Personnel Committee meeting next Thursday, January 29, at 11 A.M. pertaining to the new police manual.

The committees for the new year are as follows: Finance - Cataldo, Allmon & McMahon; Personnel - Allmon, Goss & Cataldo; Streets, Lights, Parking - Soldano, Goss & McMahon; Claims, Rules Ordinances - Goss, Soldano & Brown; Sewage - Allmon, Cataldo & Brown; Property, Equipment, Cemetery - McMahon, Brown & Soldano; Liason for Police & Fire Departments - Brown & Allmon; Fire Dependency Board - McMahon & Cataldo and EMS - Soldano, Brown & McMahon. The first person named for each committee is the chairperson for that committee. No chairs were listed for Police & Fire Liason, Fire Dependency & EMS. This list was provided by John McMahon.

Next regularly scheduled meeting is February 3.

ole nib

More Winter Scenes In The Ville & Around

Yesterday & today was the first in about two weeks that the temperature got above freezing and we had some bright sunshine. Wanted to get some pictures before the snow got ugly.

Hope you enjoy them.

ole nib