Catching Up Once Again

Things just continue getting worse on the economic news for us Americans. You hate to read the news or watch it on the boob tube. Every day it seems to be the same doom & gloom with new stories of how the economy is affecting us. In this morning's papers were stories of GM looking at additional lay-offs which will include Lordstown. We have area residents that depend on Lordstown for their livelihood. Then there was the story that the county un-employment rate hit 13.2% in February. That's just 0.4 points off the record rate for CC set back in 1984. From the tone of all you hear and see it doesn't seem that there are any signs that the down turn has hit bottom yet. They say it's a recession but to me it is down right depressing. There were a lot of changes but we survived the 1980s and I just know we'll do it again. I just wonder and worry at what cost. We certainly need some inkling of things starting to turn around. Hopefully soon...

I mentioned that postage stamps are going to cost more starting in May. Now today it came out that the postal authorities are telling Congress they are crashing and will run out of money without help from the legislators. They are looking at lay-offs, reducing hours of operations, cutting back on delivery days and closing some facilities to survive. In the period of October through December, the busiest time for P.O. business, they lost $384 million. Seems no matter what sector you work in nobody is safe from being touched with this downturn.

In news closer to home it was reported in Monday's papers that nearly 73% of the provisional ballots from last November's general election have been counted. Provisional ballots are those set aside because of questions of eligibility. There were over a thousand of them and they counted 837 with 318 being rejected. Out of that 318 there was 148 thrown out because the voters were not registered to cast a ballot. Another 91 were tossed out because the registered voters voted in the wrong place. That is simply amazing to me. I wonder how many of those 409 voters even knew what they were voting for. I think the Election Board and even some candidates do an excellent job of advising us of the need to register and where to vote. That news is repeated several times leading up to an election. I wonder where those 409 people had their heads.

Congratulations to Wellsville's Jeff Haugh for being promoted to Detective in the Sheriffs Dept. Jeff has been with the S.O. for 17 years now. According to what Ray Stone told us last month at the Chamber luncheon this move is a "borrow from Peter to pay Paul" action to help cut down on the back log of cases being investigated. Jeff won't be replaced in the Road Division. Stone is still working with the Commissioners to get funds for additional staffing. At any rate we would like to wish Jeff good luck with his new duties.

While congratulating folks I would like to send them out to WHS students Mikyla Tipton and Michael Johnston for both being named Honorable Mention All-State in basketball. Johnston was also selected to first team all district in Ohio Div. IV recently. Junior Nunzio Lombardozzi got Honorable Mention on that squad too. Tipton is in her freshman year & Johnston is a sophmore. See what I mean about looking forward to some exciting times with Wellsville basketball?

A big thank you goes out to John Diddle, owner of Tri-County Ambulance, for the donation to the WVFD of a squad truck. It's a 2001 Ford that will be used to ferry fire fighters & equipment back and forth to fire scenes. The truck got some body work done, painted and is ready for use. It looks brand new and is a nice addition to the department. The ville is certainly fortunate to have good neighbors such as John. Mr. Diddle will even sell you a Maytag or two if you're in the market.

Speaking of being in the market it came out in the papers this past Saturday that the lot that once was the home to the 9th St. pottery has been declared to be clean & ready for development. That was declared by the Ohio EPA after contaminated soil was found a couple of years ago. All the tainted dirt has been removed and replaced with clean stuff. The site is 1.2 acres big. It is ready for any interested parties.

The WHS Thespians are performing a play called "The Brothers Grimm Out of Order" tomorrow night at the high school. It starts at 7 P.M. and should provide a fun evening of entertainment.

With the coming of spring comes baseball. The ville is gearing up on just about all levels to swing into action. The high school team will open their season March 30. That's next Monday. They have four scrimmages scheduled in preparation.

This Saturday, March 28, and again on Saturday, April 4, there will be registration for T-ball at Hammonds Park at the big pavilion for this years teams. The number of teams will depend on the number of coaches they can get to volunteer their time. This is the second year for T-ball and is open to all kids ages 4 to 9. Membership is not restricted to Wellsville and is open to all area youngsters. It's not only a nice organized activity it's fun for all. For more information you can contact Dexter Thrasher @ 330-532-2082 or Mary Beatty @ 330-532-9036. Registration is 10 - 4 next Saturday & 1- 4 on April 4. They are looking for more sponsors ($250/team) and anyone who would like to make a donation to help the kids. The registration fee is $30. Checks should be made out to the Wellsville Area Youth Baseball and can be sent to Mary at 604 Commerce St. All T-ball games will be played at Hammonds Park. They are looking to open the season May 30. Mary told me Jaden Fodden will be back this year.

Also I've been told that Jane & Mandy Corbin are working on organizing Little League & a girls softball team this year. You can contact them for more information. I've been told all games for these teams will be played between Hammonds Park & Edison Local facilities. Thanks to all you folks for giving your time to organize and run these activities for our area youth. You're part of what makes the ville special.

Also coming up is the Good Friday Breakfast April 10 at the Covenant Presbyterian Church. That's at 401 18th Street here in town. It will start at 7:30. The speaker is Rev. Bill Rutter from the New Life Worship Center. Entertainment will be provided by Erin Bank and the First Baptist Church choir. I've been told that choir can get the building to rocking. Tickets are $10 and you can get more information by calling the church @ 330-532-4670.

In Sunday's newspapers there was an article that Ohio schools will be the first to get money from the stimulus funds. The Wellsville school district is in line to get $271,091 according to that news story. There was no mention of what the B.O.E. intends to use this money for. Bet it won't be for bonus checks!

There were two Village Council Committee meetings this past Monday. The first meeting was for the Claims, Rules & Ordinances Committee which I didn't learn of until after the fact. There's another violation of Ohio's Sunshine Law.

That meeting was mainly for a claim filed by a Highland Ave. resident for sliding on ice into a ditch up there ruining both of her passenger side tires. The resident wants the village to pay for replacing the tires. That ditch has been there forever and I believe ice would be considered an act of nature. The bill will be presented at the next regular council meeting but from what Joe Soldano was quoted as saying it doesn't stand much of a chance to get approved. Also discussed at that meeting was the fees for digging holes in our streets. This goes back to Columbiana Gas requesting the fees be reduced to a more reasonable rate. They will discussed whether the rates will be enforced at the April 7 meeting before moving forward on this.

The second meeting I was aware of. It was announced at the last Council Meeting for the Finance Committee. That meeting was mainly addressing the decreasing amount of cash available in the village general fund. That fund in the past has usually had a balance in the neighborhood of $100,000. As of Monday it was down to $23,000 and Councilman Tony Cataldo asked Fiscal Officer Dale Davis if money was coming in. Davis replied it was but some haven't been posted yet. He also reminded those present that we will soon be getting funds from the real estate taxes.

Cataldo then went on asking several questions that he admitted he just thought of while waiting for the power to be restored. Davis said he will probably be made out to be the bad guy for not having the information readily available but he was not informed of what was to be discussed before the meeting. If he had been given a heads up he could have pulled up the information in preparation for the meeting. That seems only fair. The answer to all Cataldo's questions is available. Davis only needs the time to gather it together.

The remaining money from the much discussed STAG grant has been released by the EPA. Out of the original $1.2 million the EPA claimed was unaccounted for it has been brought down to $12,000. Receits for that $12000 will probably never be found since it goes back so far. However, the village did get a passing mark on two previous audits that were conducted. Congressman Charlie Wilson sent a letter to the EPA saying his office has found no evidence of misfeasance and the EPA "has never made an allegation of misfeasance and/or malfeasance relative to the Village's handling of the grant funds". He then went on to ask that the village be excused for balance and their good name restored. With the release of the funds the Highland Ave. sewage line project should be moving forward.

It doesn't look hopeful for a new outside fire siren in the near future due to our financial conditions. Our best hope is that a grant be found. With the power outage there was some discussion the village may want to consider a back up generator. Since both the Police & the Fire Departments were knocked out along with Village Hall that may not be a bad idea. With that outage they found out that the emergency back-up lights didn't function as they should. The outage was caused by AEP changing a transformer up behind the American Legion. Power was out from the north end of town down to around 15th St.

Saracco announced they are getting ready to have the sewers smoke tested. That will include Russell Hts. since most of those residents are on the village sewer system. They blow smoke into the sewers. If your down spouts are draining into the system they'll see smoke coming out of your gutters. I think they color the smoke something like a pretty pink so they can easily determine offending houses are not on fire. Jim also said they are still working on getting the big fountain on Broadway repaired. The Wellsville School System is donating some play ground equipment they hope to install at the Jim Kenney Center. It is doubtful that the 18th Street play ground will have supervisors this year. Last year the Covenant Church paid for one out of a grant they received and the village paid for a second supervisor. Even at minimum wage the money isn't there this year.

Yesterday the Mayor & Village Administrator took a representative from ODOT on a tour showing him the route the trucks take to & from the terminals downtown. That was in hopes of getting state assistance to build a new roadway from 18th St. to the ramps for Route 7 for the truck traffic. It's a costly project but if accomplished it will by-pass Garfield School and the residents along the route currently being used. Emphasizing the safety factor will hopefully get something moving on this.

That wraps it up for now.

ole nib