A Few Thoughts

From accounts in this morning's papers the council meeting last night was rather unexciting. Even Jim Saracco stayed out of trouble. Erin Colella only got two columns on page 14A of the MJ but I notice she doesn't throw any zingers until later on. The last one I saw was in the "Loose Ends" column a couple of Sundays ago. Mr. Lydic of the ER did get his account started on the front page but that was only six paragraphs before we had to continue on page 5A. Could it be the administrative and legislative bodies of our fair village are getting on the same page these days?

A few high lights of last nights meeting for those of you that don't get the papers: Village Hall roof project is coming along with the contractors. I got the impression it will be wrapped up shortly. The fire chief reported that he has six active citations for "dilapidated structures". It would be interesting to learn which ones made the list so far. He said there will be more coming.
John McMahon asked that residents display numbers on their houses if they don't already have them. He said it was a requirement mainly for safety issues and that is easily understood. Is there an ordinance for this? I don't know. Legislation was passed authorizing the mayor to get a contract for "supplemental police services" with the CCMHA. I think this is for providing security mainly at Independence Square. It's something we have done in the past. The mayor made a plea for more people to get active in our Crime Watch and really it is something most people do maybe without realizing it. I know my family and I keep an eye out for the activity in my neighborhood. It's a way of protecting yourself, your property and watching out for your neighbors. More of us need to get involved with this worthwhile committee. Tony Cataldo announced there will be a village spring clean-up. They won't be taking anything with hazardous materials such as refrigerators, TVs or paint but they will be picking up old tires and furniture. Details will be forthcoming. They don't have a date yet but I hope they give us enough notice to get ready for it. It's an affordable way to get rid of unsightly stuff cluttering up the place.

Randy Allmon reminded us that the first OEPA meeting in regards to the proposed Baard plant will be held tomorrow night at the high school starting at 6:00. He asked that folks attend as a show of support. This meeting will be a two parter with an informational portion and a public hearing on the impact on Rocky Run and the river. As I said before I think Baard is bending over backwards to use the best technology in protecting our environment and insuring us that they will be good neighbors. We need to show our support and if you have any concerns this is the time to get them off your chest.

Last week the Rev. Tim Ginter announced he will be a candidate for State Senator in our 30th district. Although it wasn't spelled out it must be as an independent. After reading the article in the ER and checking out his web page I'm still not sure what his platform is. Both were filled with vague platitudes. He does mention getting more job opportunities but he didn't give any hint on how he intends to go about it.

A new lending program called GrowNow for small businesses was announced this week. It's a state program that allows a 3% reduction of the bank's interest rates on loans made for small businesses. It would be worth looking into if you're thinking about opening a business especially with the anticipation of Baard coming to the area. Off the top of my head I see the real need for three types of businesses in our village that I think will do extremely well in the near future. We need more eating establishments especially ones that provides a place for breakfast and lunches. I remember back when Crucible was running, the bowling alley up there would set up the whole bar for the construction workers at Shipping Port. They had a 30 minute lunch break, would come in, eat, put their money down and go back to the job. It was amusing to watch like it was in fast forward. We have a few places in the village but not nearly enough. We definitely need a hardware store that would be convenient for folks that buy up some of our available houses. Many of those are older and need some fixing up which construction workers will do. It would be nice if they didn't have to run all over the tri-state area to get the things they need. Lastly I think we need rental agencies for the folks that have rentals available or even have their own places. Again there are some people that have rental places but I don't see a lot of advertising. Most of it is currently done by "word of mouth". I feel that a business that pulls all that information together and at least gets available units listed on a web page would do a good business.

Jo Ann Bobby Gilbert blasted Wellsville's John Soldano in last Sunday's Loose Ends for using a recent drug abuse work shop as an inopportune chance to promote his candidacy for county sheriff. All I got to say is that a politician by any other name is still a politician. Besides he was invited to speak up by the county Prosecutor. Some may feel it was not the time or place but at least he waited until he was asked to speak. That does not seem so blatant to me.

The Ministerial Association is once again getting their Paint-the-Town program started for this year. The last couple of years they did a lot of good work helping some of us less fortunate with getting their house painted. I'm glad to see they are going forward with it for another painting season. It not only improves the appearance of a place I also think it gives the owners incentive in maintaining their properties. They are looking for some helpers if you can squeeze out some spare time.

I was saddened to see the announcement of the Museum of Ceramics losing their state funding. Hopefully those folks can find some way to keep going in spite of the lost of funding from the Ohio Historical Society. Once noted as the pottery capitol of the world I think it is a significant historical part of our area.

Finally I think Salem's Austin French was wise to withdraw his candidacy as an independent for county sheriff. He lost my vote even before the County Republican Party went after him with his vague answers and comments about his questionable qualifications and whether he knew that LaSalle was not an accredited school. In my opinion those matters should have been cleared up before he even considered filing for office.

Enjoy the beautiful spring weather we're getting...

ole nib